The game almost didn’t happen, as a two-hour, 42-minute rain delay threatened to postpone the game completely. But ultimately, the Minnesota Twins and Oakland A’s got the game underway just before 10 p.m., and the home team prevailed in a wild game by an 11-4 margin in front of just 16,938 fans at Target Field on Tuesday night.
That was the fewest fans to see a game in the seven-year history of Target Field.
Tommy Milone (1-2) came out pitching like his rotation spot was on the line, and threw a scoreless first before the A’s broke through in the second as Marcus Semien homered — 397 feet to left for his 18th — to open the scoring for a 1-0 Oakland lead. The Twins answered right away in their half of the second, as Kennys Vargas — in just his second game back with the club after his recall from Triple-A Rochester — doubled into the left field corner, moved to third on a broken bat-single from Danny Santana and scored on a Kurt Suzuki groundout to knot the game at a run apiece.
The A’s wouldn’t score again until the eighth inning, as Milone fanned just two batters but threw ample strikes (60 in his 95 pitches) for six innings of one-run ball with just five hits allowed. Milone said he was skeptical the game was ever going to happen, but still prepared as though it could happen, and it showed on the mound.
His wife took a different approach on Twitter.
The Twins offense clicked for a pair of runs fourth against A’s starter Sean Manaea (3-5), as Max Kepler walked with one out and reached second on a wild pitch. Suzuki singled to score Kepler, and then crossed home on a two-out double from Byron Buxton which gave the Twins a 3-1 lead.
The A’s threatened in the top of the fifth, as Jake Smolinski singled with one out and stole second. With two outs, Santana made an incredible throw from left field to the plate to nail Smolinski to end the inning following a Coco Crisp single. Statcast had Santana’s throw at 96.6 mph, and it barely evaded Miguel Sano’s reach as he tried to cut the ball off at third base.
The Twins pushed the lead to 6-1 in the fifth, as Robbie Grossman walked, and Vargas homered to left on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. The home run was Vargas’ first in the major leagues since June 22, 2015 — a span of 380 days. Kepler followed with a home run to right on the very next pitch — 384 feet, his sixth of the year — to push the Twins’ lead up to five runs. The Twins tacked on another run in the sixth, as Buxton hit a hustle double — his second of the game — and came across on a Grossman single to left.
The A’s made things interesting in the eighth after Trevor May handled the seventh with little issue despite allowing a hit and another baserunner on a Sano error. Neil Ramirez came on in the eighth — with manager Paul Molitor hoping to milk the last two innings out of him — and walked Jed Lowrie after an extended battle. Josh Reddick doubled to left off the glove of Santana, and the A’s were in business with two in scoring position and no one out. Old friend Danny Valencia followed that up with a three-run home run, and the A’s had closed the gap to 7-4.
Ryan Pressly came on to close out the inning with three fly ball outs in order to preserve the lead.
The Twins pushed back with four runs in their half of the eighth. With one out, Suzuki singled to left-center and reached second on a passed ball. After a Buxton groundout, the Twins pieced together a two-out rally as newly-minted All Star Eduardo Nunez singled and Grossman walked. That led to the A’s bringing in former Twins righty Liam Hendriks, who was greeted by a three-run home run by Sano on his 1-0 offering. That capped the scoring at 11-4, as Brandon Kintzler came on to throw a clean ninth with a fly ball out and a pair of groundouts.
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Up Next: RHP Sonny Gray (3-7, 5.42) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (2-7, 4.50) – 12:10 p.m.
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Notes
- The 9:52 p.m. first pitch was the latest start in Target Field history.
- The win was the Twins’ first against the A’s since last season, snapping a six-game losing skid.
- This marked Milone’s first victory since Sept. 28, 2015 against Cleveland.
- Kepler’s home run was his third in four games.
- Buxton (2-for-3) has a modest five-game hitting streak.
- Grossman (1-for-3) drew walks 32 and 33 of the season. Only Sano and Joe Mauer have more on the Twins.
- All fans who had tickets for Tuesday night’s game with be able to exchange tickets for a future Twins game.
