Field Level Media
May 16, 2021
Ramon Laureano scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning as the Oakland Athletics edged the Minnesota Twins, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Matt Chapman went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Matt Olson, Mark Canha and Sean Murphy each had two hits for Oakland, which took two out of three in the series. Lou Trivino (2-1) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win.
Max Kepler homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Andrelton Simmons belted a two-run homer and Trevor Larnach had three hits and scored a run for Minnesota. Taylor Rogers (0-2) was saddled with the loss.
The game was tied at 6 going in the ninth inning when Laureano singled off Rogers with one out. Olson hit what appeared to set up an inning-ending comebacker to Rogers, who whirled and threw to Josh Donaldson at second base. However, the ball went off Donaldson's glove and into center field for an error as Laureano advanced to third.
Rogers then got Chapman to strike out, but the ball bounced away from catcher Mitch Garver, allowing Laureano to score the winning run.
Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Olson led off with a double and came around to score on a single by Chapman.
Minnesota rebounded to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Larnach singled with one out and advanced to second after Miguel Sano was hit by a pitch. Kepler then hit his fourth home run of the season, a 408-foot drive into the bleachers in right-center field.
The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the fourth but managed just one run, a sacrifice fly by Kepler.
But Oakland parlayed four hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly and a catcher's interference into four runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.
Murphy had an RBI single to drive in Chad Pinder, who had doubled to open the inning, while Seth Brown drove in another run with a groundout. Laureano hit a grounder to short and Simmons threw to home, where he caught Elvis Andrus in a rundown. However, catcher Ben Rortvedt hit Andrus in the arm as he ran him back to third for interference allowing Andrus to tie it at 4.
After Olson walked, Chapman made it 5-4 with a sacrifice fly.
The A's extended their lead to 6-4 in the seventh on Chapman's two-out, bases-loaded infield dribbler, driving in Brown, who had walked.
The Twins tied it at 6 in the eighth after Kepler doubled and scored on Simmons' second homer of the season.
--Field Level Media