Field Level Media
Jul 4, 2019
Mitch Garver ruined Blake Treinen's return from the injured list with an RBI single in the top of the 12th inning Wednesday night that gave the visiting Minnesota Twins a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Treinen (2-3), who hadn't pitched since June 20 because of a sore right shoulder, entered the game in the 12th and struck out the first batter he faced before walking Byron Buxton and Max Kepler.
Garver then worked the count full before driving a single into left field, scoring Buxton to break a 3-3 tie.
After a walk to Jorge Polanco to load the bases, Brian Schlitter, who relieved Treinen, escaped further damage by getting C.J. Cron to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Blake Parker (1-2), the fifth Twins pitcher, earned the win after blanking the A's on one hit in the 10th and 11th innings. Taylor Rogers worked around an error and a Jurickson Profar single to record his 11th save with a scoreless bottom of the 12th.
The Twins fought an uphill battle almost the entire night, after Oakland's Ramon Laureano belted a three-run homer off Minnesota starter Kyle Gibson in the second inning.
The home run, Laureano's 14th of the season, came after Khris Davis had reached base on an error and Mark Canha walked.
The Twins rallied to tie the game at 3-3 with single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, finally drawing even on a solo homer by Polanco, his 12th of the season, off A's left-hander Ryan Buchter with two outs in the eighth.
Minnesota's earlier runs were the result of an RBI single by Garver in the sixth and a botched potential double-play grounder by the A's in the seventh.
Seeking a seventh win in eight career decisions against the Twins, A's right-hander Mike Fiers was pulled with a 3-1 lead after allowing a leadoff single in the seventh inning to Luis Arraez.
Fiers, who did not get a decision, was charged with two runs (one earned) on five hits in six-plus innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Gibson bounced back to shut out the A's through six innings after giving up Laureano's homer. He also did not get a decision after allowing the three runs (two earned) and five hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Arraez collected three hits and Garver two with two RBIs for the Twins, who won for just the second time in five games on their six-game trip.
Laureano had two hits for the A's, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
The Twins out-hit the A's 10-9.
--Field Level Media