Willingham Homers Twice And Twins Beat A's 4-3
Josh Willingham hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the eighth that put the Twins in front for good, to lead Minnesota past the Oakland Athletics 4-3 Tuesday night.
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Josh Willingham hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the eighth that put the Twins in front for good, to lead Minnesota past the Oakland Athletics 4-3 Tuesday night.
The Minnesota Twins announced their 2014 regular season schedule on Tuesday, one that's anticipated with Target Field hosting the All-Star Game. The Twins will open the season with two divisional series on the road, heading to Chicago to play the White Sox March 31-April 2.
Trevor Plouffe went 2 for 3 and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs as the Minnesota Twins snapped a 10-game home losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Plouffe's two-run, two-out double in the fifth inning tied the game 3-3, and his bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 4-3 as the Twins won at home for the first time since Aug. 15, avoiding the longest home losing streak since the franchise started in Washington in 1901. The home skid was the Twins' longest since moving from Washington in 1961. The Senators lost 10 straight home games in 1957.
Target Field hasn't been providing much of a home field advantage for the Minnesota Twins lately. On Sunday Toronto starter Esmil Rogers pitched well into the eighth inning and Jose Reyes' late double broke a scoreless tie that led the Blue Jays past the Twins 2-0 for a three-game sweep. It was Minnesota's 10th straight home loss, which is a franchise record.
Adam Lind hit a pair of three-run homers and J.A. Happ snapped a three-game losing streak, leading the Toronto Blue Jays over the Minnesota Twins 11-2 on Saturday night. Lind's first home run highlighted a five-run first inning a night after Toronto posted five runs in the third frame in a victory over Minnesota. Lind went deep again in the eighth for his second multi-homer game this season and 10th of his career. Happ (4-5), who entered the game with a 7.71 ERA in his last three outings, allowed an unearned run on five hits while striking out four.
R.A. Dickey pitched into the seventh inning for Toronto, and the Blue Jays hung on for a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Dickey (12-12) won his third straight start, giving up seven hits and three runs to a Twins team he was a reliever for in 2009. He struck out four and walked one. Jose Reyes reached base all four times and sparked a five-run second against Mike Pelfrey (5-11) with an RBI single. Brett Lawrie hit a two-run single and Moises Sierra followed with a two-run double in that inning.
Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has not cleared his concussion symptoms yet. Mauer was missing from the lineup for the 16th straight game Friday, when the Twins started a series against Toronto. The All-Star said after taking batting practice he had "a good day," but the recovery process has been slow. Mauer said there's no timetable for his return but that he hopes to be back "sooner than later." He was hurt on Aug. 19, hit in the facemask by a foul ball.
Trevor Crowe hit an RBI single in the ninth inning that lifted the Houston Astros over the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Wednesday. Jonathan Villar singled to start the ninth and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jose Altuve. Crowe's line drive to left field off Brian Duensing (6-2) allowed the speedy Villar to score easily, giving Houston its first win in six tries against Minnesota.
Clete Thomas scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the 12th inning and Darin Mastroianni added a two-run double, helping the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 9-6 on Tuesday night. Thomas reached on a fielder's choice and went to third on Josmil Pinto's double.
The Minnesota Twins have signed right-handed pitcher Mark Hamburger again. The St. Paul Saints announced Tuesday the 26-year-old Hamburger has joined the Twins. He posted a 3.28 ERA in 21 starts this season for the independent league team.
Rookie Chris Colabello homered twice, including a tiebreaking grand slam in the ninth inning, to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 10-6 win over the Houston Astros on Monday.
Kevin Correia pitched seven strong innings and the Minnesota Twins clinched their first series victory at Texas in four years, beating the AL West-leading Rangers 4-2 on Sunday. Correia (9-10) allowed one run and scattered five hits. The right-hander struck out two and got 14 outs on the ground, including a pair of double plays. Rangers starter Travis Blackley (2-2) was gone after giving up three consecutive run-scoring hits with one out in the fifth.
Minnesota added center fielder Alex Presley to its roster Sunday, a day after acquiring him from Pittsburgh in the trade for Justin Morneau.
Many Minnesota Twins fans are still talking about Saturday's news, when the Twins organization announced they were trading former MVP Justin Morneau to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Leonys Martin hit a game-winning bases-loaded single with two out in the ninth inning to give the Texas Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins Saturday night. Alex Rios doubled with one out against losing pitcher Caleb Thielbar (2-2). Two walks and one out later, Martin sent a ground ball past Brian Duensing, the Twins' third pitcher of the inning, to send Rios home.
