Game Preview: Athletics At Twins

(AP) - The Oakland Athletics cooled off the Minnesota Twins' surging offense behind a dominant pitching performance in the middle game of this four-game series.

Scott Kazmir looks capable of keeping the Twins in check, though his teammates will have to help end his hard luck in order for the Athletics to win back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks.

Kazmir takes the mound Wednesday night at Target Field, where the improved Kyle Gibson continues to shine.

The Athletics (12-16) had scored exactly seven runs in four straight games, losing Monday's series opener 8-7. Though their lineup was quiet Tuesday with Josh Reddick's hitting streak snapped at 12 games, Jesse Chavez limited the Twins to an unearned run over 7 1-3 innings as the A's won 2-1.

Minnesota (14-13) had hit .350 while averaging 7.8 runs during a five-game winning streak. The Twins moved the tying run to third base with one out in the eighth but Torii Hunter struck out before a Joe Mauer flyout. Kennys Vargas was 0 for 4 after four multihit efforts in five games.

"We had been rolling pretty good offensively. I don't know if he took it personally or what, but he went out there and threw a lot of fastballs," manager Paul Molitor said of Chavez. "Had good command, had it moving in both directions."

Kazmir (2-0, 1.62 ERA) continues to impress, though the offense hasn't shown up behind him recently. He's winless in his last three starts, getting two runs of support over 20 1-3 innings. Oakland didn't back him with any runs before he exited after allowing three runs in six innings of Friday's 7-5 victory at Texas.

The left-hander has received plenty of run support in the past against Minnesota, however. He's 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in his last 10 meetings while being backed by an average of 6.13 runs. The A's supplied him with 14 runs over 12 2-3 innings in two victories last year.

Gibson (2-2, 3.56) owns a 2.03 ERA since giving up six runs in his first start at Detroit. After an erratic first two seasons with a 15-16 record and 4.92 ERA, the 2009 first-round pick might finally be proving his worth as a late bloomer.

The 27-year-old right-hander enjoyed one of the best outings of his career Friday, yielding four hits over eight innings in a 1-0 victory against the Chicago White Sox.

"There's times where when I execute I'm pretty confident," he said.

Gibson is 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA over his last four home starts dating to last season, though he's never faced the A's there. He dropped his only outing in Oakland on Aug. 8 after allowing six runs, five hits and five walks over five-plus innings.

Recent callup Billy Burns continued to be a spark at the top of the Oakland lineup, going 2 for 5 on Tuesday to improve to 7 for 19 in four games. He might be out of a roster spot Wednesday, though, with fellow center fielder Coco Crisp expected to make his season debut after undergoing elbow surgery last month. Crisp hit .246 and stole 19 bases in 126 games last year.

Updated May 6, 2015