Gray Loses 7th Straight Decision, A's Fall To Twins
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS / AP) -- Ervin Santana struck out eight and walked none in a two-hitter that led the Minnesota Twins over the Oakland Athletics 4-0 on Wednesday.
Santana (3-7) pitched his eighth shutout and 15th complete game, helping the Twins take two of three from the A's. Joe Mauer had three hits and an RBI.
Sonny Gray (3-8) gave up one run, six hits and four walks in six innings, losing his seventh straight decision, the longest active skid in the American League. Billy Butler's two-out double in the fifth and Stephen Vogt's leadoff single in the eighth Oakland's lone hits.
Minnesota got off to a historically bad start and quickly got buried in the AL Central. But the Twins have won four of their last five games and each of their last three series at home.
The bleary-eyed clubs were back at it on Wednesday less than 12 hours after finishing a rain-delayed game that started at 9:52 p.m.
Both teams appeared to be swinging heavy bats, and stranded 12, going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Santana frustrated Oakland's hitters all afternoon. Josh Reddick slammed his bat in anger after popping out to the catcher in the fourth inning and Khris Davis did the same after a strikeout in the seventh.
As sharp as Santana was, he didn't have much cushion for most of the afternoon because the Twins kept leaving runners on base against Gray. They left nine on in the first six innings before finally scratching two more runs across.
SPEEDY NUNEZ
Twins All-Star Eduardo Nunez stole his 20th base this season in the third inning. That made him the first Twins player to swipe at least 20 bases before the All-Star break since Carlos Gomez had 21 in 2008.
A's BULLPEN
Oakland's bullpen entered with a 5.63 ERA in its 22 games. Opponents were hitting .312 off of A's relievers, and they had another rough day on Wednesday.
Marc Rzepczynski was charged with two runs on one hit and didn't record an out in the seventh inning. And John Axford didn't give him any help when he walked Max Kepler with the bases loaded and gave up a sacrifice fly to Eddie Rosario to give Santana some breathing room.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Fernando Rodriguez was played on the disabled list after an MRI revealed a strained rotator cuff. Manager Bob Melvin said there is no timetable for a return, but he would not need surgery.
Twins: SS Eduardo Escobar was available after missing the last two games with a strained hamstring.
UP NEXT
Athletics: LHP Rich Hill (8-3, 2.31) will start the series opener at Houston on Thursday.
Twins: Minnesota opens a four-game series in Texas on Thursday, sending RHP Tyler Duffey (4-6, 4.62) to the mound against RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1, 9.53).
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