A's 5, Twins 1
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Rookie Tommy Milone pitched eight innings, allowed two hits and a run, struck out five and walked only one batter as the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1, on Wednesday afternoon.
Milone (10-9) became the second pitcher on the staff to notch double-digit victories (Bartolo Colon, 10), and the win ended a personal three game losing streak.
Coco Crisp was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBIs, was on base four times and was a triple shy of the cycle. The A's have won six of their last seven games to keep pace in the American League Wild Card race.
The struggling Twins have lost 11 of their last 13 games to maintain the worst record in the American League. Liam Hendriks pitched five innings, gave up six hits and four runs for Minnesota. Hendriks (0-6) has yet to post his first career Major League victory.
The A's scored four runs in the first four innings. In the bottom of the first, Crisp led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He moved over to third on a fly out to center and scored on an RBI single by Josh Reddick.
In the third, Cliff Pennington doubled to right and advanced to third on a single by Crisp who then stole second. Stephen Drew walked to load the bases. Yoenis Cespedes singled to left to score both runners.
Josh Donaldson doubled in the fourth inning and he scored on another two-bagger from Crisp. He later homered to left center in the bottom of the seventh to close out the scoring.
The Twins' lone run came in the second inning on an RBI groundout by Joe Mauer to score Ryan Doumit.
NOTES: Mauer played at first base. He has caught 829 career games and remains two away from tying Earl Battey (831) for first on the Twins' all-time games caught list. ... This is the first season series loss for the Twins against the A's since 2009. ... Twins centerfielder Ben Revere is one stolen base shy of 30 for the season. ... The A's tied their season high with four errors. ... Oakland finished its homestand with a 5-1 mark. ... The A's are 11 games over .500.
