OAKLAND, Calif. —Alex Kirilloff homered within the fifth inning and hit a three-run double within the seventh, rallying the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics and a collection sweep Sunday.

Christian Vázquez additionally linked for the Twins, who hadn’t received three straight in Oakland since July 1997.

“We’re not a one-dimensional group but we have to prove that we’re not a one-dimensional group,” Twins supervisor Rocco Baldelli stated. “Showing it in these three games, that’s what we saw. Our hitters plugged away, took a lot of tough pitches. We were on base a lot this series. We did a little bit of everything. It’s a nice way to start the second half, is what it is.”

Jordan Diaz homered and drove in two runs for the last-place A’s. Losers of seven straight, Oakland (25-70) has been swept 13 instances this season.

The recreation on the Coliseum drew a crowd of 9,335, marking the twenty sixth time in 47 dwelling video games the attendance has been beneath 10,000.

Minnesota trailed a lot of the recreation and was down 3-2 coming into the seventh following a shaky outing from starter Joe Ryan.

PHOTOS: Kirilloff rallies Twins to 5-4 win over A's for a collection sweep

Max Kepler’s one-out single off JP Sears began the rally and prolonged his on-base streak on the Coliseum to 14 video games relationship to July 2017. After reliever Lucas Erceg (2-1) walked Vázquez, pinch-hitter Edouard Julien hit a pointy grounder to 3rd base that Aledmys Díaz fielded however dropped whereas transferring the ball to his throwing hand.

Kirilloff then drilled a fastball from Erceg down the left-field line. The ball rolled to the outfield fence because the bases cleared, giving Minnesota its first lead.

That spoiled a principally robust outing from Sears. Winless since June 11, the left-hander had seven strikeouts, didn’t stroll anybody, and allowed 4 hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

“JP did an unbelievable job. He’s continuing to get better,” A’s supervisor Mark Kotsay stated. “He went out immediately and gave us a extremely nice efficiency towards a extremely good hitting workforce. “

Jorge López (3-2) retired 4 batters for the win. Jhoan Duran earned his fifteenth save, getting Tony Kemp to line out to middle area for the ultimate out with the potential tying run at second base.

Minnesota’s protection additionally got here up massive with two implausible performs by left fielder Willi Castro. He made a leaping catch on the fence within the second to rob Aledmys Díaz of additional bases, one batter after Jordan Diaz hit his sixth dwelling run. In the fourth, Castro made a sliding seize of Jordan Diaz’s sinking liner in left-center to carry him to a sacrifice fly.

“You’re not going to win games like this without great individual plays in the field,” Baldelli stated. “Willi did a fantastic job today in left field. He’s the jack of all trades for us right now and he moves around, but he doesn’t play the positions like a guy that just moves around.”

Vázquez had two hits to interrupt out of an prolonged stoop on the plate. His dwelling run off Sears within the fifth was his second of the season and first since June 19. Two batters later, Kirilloff linked off Sears for his fifth dwelling run.

“I’m just trying to put a good swing on the ball,” Kirilloff stated. “Sometimes (home runs) come in bunches, sometimes they come once a month. I’m just not a guy who’s trying to swing hard. I’ll just take them as they come.”

Ryan had seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings however allowed 5 hits and three runs.

BRINGING HEAT

Duran threw 18 pitches within the ninth, 10 of which clocked 100 mph or quicker.

GLOVE IT

Twins second baseman Donovan Solano made a robust play to finish the third when he raced in to get Kemp’s gradual grounder after which – utilizing his glove hand – flipped the ball to first to barely get the A’s leadoff hitter.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: SS Jorge Polanco (left hamstring pressure) started what is predicted to be a prolonged rehab task with Triple-A St. Paul. Polanco has been out since May 20.

Athletics: All-Star OF Brent Rooker was held out of the lineup resulting from sickness.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Sonny Gray (4-3, 2.89 ERA) faces the Mariners in Seattle, six days after pitching there within the All-Star Game. Gray has 5 wins in 14 profession begins towards the Mariners.

Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (1-1, 4.86) pitches Monday towards the Red Sox. Blackburn was scratched from his beforehand scheduled begin towards Boston on July 8 due to sickness.

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