A late rally made the finish tense, but the Minnesota Twins held off the Oakland Athletics after building their advantage through the middle innings. Zebby Matthews gave Minnesota a strong foundation before Oakland mounted its push.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| OAK | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Matthews anchored the game with a sharp start, allowing only one earned run while striking out seven and earning the win. Ryan Kreidler also supplied a home run, while Josh Bell and Kaelen Culpepper helped keep the Twins' offense moving.
Josh Bell's opening-inning double brought Byron Buxton home and gave Minnesota the lead. Bell later grounded out to first, bringing Buxton across again, and Ryan Kreidler's homer extended the advantage in the fifth. Luke Keaschall's double brought home Kaelen Culpepper and Brooks Lee, followed by Bell's sacrifice fly that scored Kreidler. Kody Clemens and Culpepper added further insurance in the eighth.
Oakland did not go quietly. Jeff McNeil's ninth-inning double brought Jonah Heim and Henry Bolte home, then Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler followed with doubles that brought runners across. The Athletics' surge narrowed the margin, but Minnesota's bullpen held on.
The Twins extended their winning streak, while Oakland's losing streak continued. The game belonged to Minnesota for most of the night, but the late rally gave it a far more unsettled ending.
Minnesota Twins defeated Oakland Athletics, 9-6.
- Ryan Kreidler went 1-for-4 with 1 home run, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored (batting .227 on the season).
- Jeff McNeil went 3-for-5 with 1 double, 2 RBIs and 1 run scored (batting .267 on the season).
- Josh Bell went 1-for-3 with 1 double, 3 RBIs and 1 run scored (batting .253 on the season).
- Zebby Matthews allowed 1 run on 6 hits over 7.0 innings, striking out 7, to earn the win (8-8) (4.86 ERA).
- Jeffrey Springs allowed 4 runs on 7 hits over 4.2 innings, striking out 3, and took the loss (3-12) (6.08 ERA).
- (gpid=sa:702193) allowed 0 runs on 0 hits over 0.1 innings, and closed it out for the save (1) (3.41 ERA).
Oakland Athletics fell to 51-81; Minnesota Twins improved to 64-68.