Oakland's Davis hits walk-off homer to beat Twins

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Rajai Davis hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally the Oakland Athletics to a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

Davis' fourth homer of the year capped a night in which he had four hits to break out of an 0-for-13 slump and helped give Oakland manager Bob Melvin his 1,000th career victory.

Davis' home run off Taylor Rogers (5-3) came after Rogers walked pinch-hitter Adam Rosales leading off the inning.

A's reliever Daniel Coulombe (2-1) struck out two batters in a scoreless inning in the top of the ninth as Oakland snapped a six-game skid.

Ryon Healy was 2 for 4 with doubles and Matt Chapman homered for the A's.

Miguel Sano hit a two-run homer and Zack Granite and Eduardo Escobar each had two hits for the Twins, who lost for the fifth time in six games and fell to 1-4 on their West Coast road trip.

Granite extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-run single that highlighted a two-run second inning in which the Twins had a chance to do a lot more damage.

Five straight batters reached safely leading off the inning, but after A's starter Chris Smith walked Jason Castro to load the bases, Smith retired the next three batters in order, starting a stretch in which he retired nine of 10 hitters.

That stretch ended in the top of the fifth inning when Sano followed Max Kepler's leadoff single with an opposite-field shot to right that extended a 2-1 Twins lead.

Smith allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings.

Matt Chapman hit a long two-out solo home run to left (431 feet according to Statcast) in the bottom of the eighth that made it 4-3. Chapman's sixth home run came on an 89 mph changeup Buddy Boshers left over the heart of the plate.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton is expected to join the team in San Diego and will be in the starting lineup on Tuesday for the team's series opener against the Padres after completing a two-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester, manager Paul Molitor said. Buxton went on the DL July 15 with a left groin strain.

Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray's Sunday start was pushed back a day and RHP Jharel Cotton will come of the DL to start in Gray's place, manager Bob Melvin said. Cotton has been out since July 4 with a right thumb blister. . RHP Kendall Graveman (right shoulder strain) threw 81 pitches on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville on Saturday. He struck out five and gave up one run on four hits and two walks. . Utilityman Chad Pinder (left hamstring strain) is expected to join the team on Sunday and be activated by Monday.

UP NEXT

Cotton will go against Twins RHP Bartolo Colon, who is 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in two starts since joining the Twins earlier this month. The 44-year-old pitched for the A's in 2012-13. He's 9-6 with a 3.37 ERA in 19 career starts against his former team.