Athletics 9, Twins 3: Yoenis Cespedes and Chris Carter each homered and drove in three runs as visiting Oakland blasted four home runs en route to its eighth win in nine games.

Seth Smith and Brandon Moss also went deep while Josh Reddick collected three hits and scored twice as the Athletics remained 1 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Tommy Milone (9-6) won for the third time in four decisions despite surrendering 10 hits over six innings. The rookie gave up two runs, marking the fifth consecutive start in which he yielded fewer than three earned runs.

Carter highlighted a four-run first inning with a three-run blast off the wall behind the bullpen in left-center field. Cespedes launched a two-run shot to the opposite field in the second and Smith added a solo homer in the fifth off Cole De Vries (2-2), who allowed seven runs and six hits over five frames.

It was the first time in six career starts the rookie yielded more than four earned runs.

Moss led off the sixth against Anthony Swarzak with his 11th home run, giving Oakland an 8-1 advantage. Smith capped the scoring in the ninth with an RBI triple.

Brian Dozier and former Oakland player Josh Willingham hit solo shots for the Twins, who have lost six of seven.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Oakland CF Coco Crisp was kept out of the lineup due to soreness in his left shoulder. With Crisp sidelined, RF Reddick made his fifth start of the season in center field. ... Willingham has hit five of his 22 homers this season against his former team. ... Twins CF Denard Span collected three hits for his fourth multi-hit performance in six games.