Carlos Correa went 3-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 6-2 win over the Oakland Athletics in the first game of a split doubleheader on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Royce Lewis and Carlos Santana added one home run apiece for Minnesota, which won its fourth consecutive game. The Twins racked up 12 hits, drew five walks and struck out only three times.
Daz Cameron hit a solo home run for Oakland, which lost its eighth in a row. Kyle McCann had an RBI single, and JJ Bleday finished 2-for-4 with a double.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (6-4) earned his first victory since May 24, giving up one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out eight.
Athletics left-hander JP Sears (4-6) gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked four, struck out one and served up three homers.
Twins closer Jhoan Duran notched his 11th save by coming in for the final out of the ninth with two runners on base and the tying run on deck.
The Twins grabbed a 3-0 lead on back-to-back homers by Correa and Lewis in the first. The blasts came on back-to-back pitches by Sears, with Correa's homer a two-run shot.
Correa ripped a pitch 393 feet to left-center field. As teammates gave him high fives in the dugout, Lewis belted the first pitch he saw 380 feet to right field.
In the fourth, Correa struck again with a solo shot for his eighth homer of the season. He continued a torrid streak in which he is hitting .524 (22-for-42) with four homers and 12 RBIs in his past 10 games.
The Athletics got on the scoreboard in the seventh. Cameron turned on a changeup for his second homer of the season to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Santana joined the power parade in the bottom of the seventh. He hit a two-run blast -- his 11th homer -- to increase Minnesota's lead to 6-1.
The Athletics closed the scoring with McCann's RBI single in the ninth.
--Field Level Media
Oakland | Minnesota | |
JP Sears | Player | Bailey Ober |
Loss | W/L | Win |
4.1 | IP | 6.1 |
1 | Strikeouts | 8 |
9 | Hits | 6 |
8.31 | ERA | 1.42 |
Oakland | Minnesota | |
J.D. Davis | Player | Carlos Correa |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 3 |
0 | HR | 2 |
2 | TB | 9 |
.667 | Avg | .600 |