Minneapolis, MN – Yoenis Cespedes went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and three RBI as the Oakland Athletics capped a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 9-4 win on Sunday.
Jonny Gomes was 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and three runs scored while Chris Carter and Seth Smith each hit a solo home run for the Athletics, who have won four straight and nine of 10.
"This is some good momentum for us and hopefully we can carry it home with us," said Gomes. "We've got some guys swinging pretty good lately and with the pitching we have we can be a dangerous team."
Jarrod Parker (6-4) gave up four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts over six innings to pick up his fourth win in the past six starts.
Ryan Doumit, Brian Dozier and Alexi Casilla all drove in a run for the Twins, who have lost their past five games. Brian Duensing (1-6) lasted just two innings in the start as he was torched for six runs on seven hits to drop his fourth straight start.
"I got shelled today and that's about it," said Duensing. "I gave up homer after homer and didn't make any good pitches. It was a bad day for me and it ended pretty quickly."
Oakland got to Duensing early as the team plated two runs in the first. Jemile Weeks singled to start the game and Gomes followed with a single. Cespedes later singled home the first run and a bases loaded walk to Derek Norris made it a 2-0 game.
The Twins got one back in the bottom of the first when Darin Mastroianni scored thanks to a bad throw from Parker, but the A's scored four more in the second.
After Weeks singled, Gomes launched his 10th home run of the season. After Josh Reddick grounded out, Cespedes homered and Carter followed with a shot to right-center for a 6-1 lead.
A sacrifice fly from Casilla in the second scored Doumit to make it a 6-2 game.
In the sixth, Oakland scored three more runs. Smith got things started with a shot over the right field wall. Later in the frame, Cespedes singled home Weeks and Carter scored on a wild pitch for a 9-4 lead.
Doumit doubled home Justin Morneau and Dozier's run-scoring groundout in the sixth made it a 9-4 contest, but Minnesota didn't manage another baserunner until Casilla singled with two outs in the ninth.
Game Notes
The A's are three games over .500 for the first time since June 3, 2010...It was the fourth sweep of the season for the A's...The Twins have now been swept seven times this season...Minnesota third baseman Trevor Plouffe went 1-for-4 to extend his career-high hitting streak to 13 games...It was the second straight game that the A's hit four home runs...Oakland returns home to face Texas for two games starting on Tuesday...The Twins host Baltimore for a four- game set beginning on Monday...Each team has won three games in the season series.
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