The Oakland Athletics gave the Minnesota Twins a taste of their own medicine as they followed the Twins dominance on Friday with their own dominance Saturday. The A’s used a four-run fifth inning to blow open a 3-2 game and rolled to an 8-3 victory. Once again the A’s received strong performances up and down the lineup including a three RBI game from Scott Sizemore and a three-hit night from Conor Jackson.
Guillermo Moscoso bounced back from back-to-back tough outings as he went 6 1/3 innings giving up two earned runs on seven hits and a walk. He appeared to be in trouble through two innings as the were hitting him around. However, he settled down once the A’s gave him a 3-2 lead and cruised into the seventh inning. The A’s bullpen picked him up from there going 2 2/3 innings giving up only one unearned run. With the win, Moscoso improves to 4-5 with a 3.41 ERA.
The A’s offense had another strong night in support of their starting pitcher. The A’s strung together eight runs on 12 hits and 6 walks. Coco Crisp had a strong performance going 2-for-3 with two walks, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Josh Willingham added another RBI and Scott Sizemore drove in three on a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning. It was another strong night for an offense has caught fire since the All Star break.
The A’s and Twins meet for the rubber match Sunday afternoon at 1:05pm on CSN California. Brandon McCarthy will square off against Carl Pavano looking for the series win.