Game Preview: Athletics At Twins

(AP) - Trevor May appeared healthy in his latest start and showed no lingering effects from a bruised right elbow that cut short his prior outing.

The Minnesota Twins hitters had one of their best showings of the season in May's last start and continue to shine.

The surging Twins look to win six straight games for the first time in four years Tuesday night against a struggling Oakland Athletics pitching staff.

May (2-1, 4.43 ERA) was forced to leave in the fourth inning April 25 in Seattle after taking a line drive off his pitching elbow. He gave up two runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings in his next outing, a 12-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

"I got really lucky, I think," said May, 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last three starts. "I'm fortunate to continue on with the program after a thing like that. I'm happy."

That 12-run effort is among Minnesota's many top-notch hitting performances in the past week. The Twins (14-12) are batting .344 with 49 runs during a 6-1 stretch and had 13 hits in an 8-7 comeback win in Monday's series opener.

Torii Hunter sent them to a fifth consecutive victory with a three-run homer in the sixth. Stephen Vogt provided an early jolt for Oakland (11-16) with his first career grand slam in the first, but the Twins tied the game in the second.

Jordan Schafer finished 3 for 3 with two RBIs and is 8 for 18 with six runs in his last six games.

"All the way through our lineup guys are grinding at-bats right now," Schafer said.

The Twins will try to win six in a row for the first time since an eight-game streak in June 2011 when they face a team that has a 5.28 ERA in the past 13 games. The A's bullpen has a 7.14 mark in that stretch, and their starters have a 5.33 ERA in the last nine contests.

That's negated some fine recent efforts by the offense, which has scored seven runs in each of the last four games. Vogt is 5 for 8 with three homers and nine RBIs in his last two games and has six home runs and 18 RBIs in his last 10 road contests.

"We get a lead, and we lose it. Come back, just short. It does get frustrating," manager Bob Melvin said. "You're not going to hit on all cylinders. Obviously this has been a serious deficiency for us, and we've got to figure it out somehow. Somebody has to step up."

Jesse Chavez (0-2, 2.55) has received zero runs of support over 11 innings in his two games since joining the rotation. The right-hander yielded four runs in five innings in a 6-5 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

In his only career start against the Twins, Chavez allowed one run while striking out a career high-tying nine in seven innings on April 9, 2014.

May's lone start against Oakland came in his major league debut Aug. 9, when he gave up four runs and walked seven in two innings in a 9-4 loss.

Updated May 5, 2015