OAKLAND – Oakland could not take advantage of a poor outing by Minnesota’s All-Star pitcher Pablo Lopez as the Twins defeated the A’s 10-7 on Saturday afternoon.
Oakland (25-69) pounded an ace that entered the game with a 3.89 ERA. Seth Brown and Ryan Noda, perhaps assisted by the warm air brought into the Bay Area by a heat wave, hit their ninth and 10th home runs of the season.
Top prospect Tyler Soderstrom got the at catcher for the A’s and collected the first hits of his career during a 2-4 day at the plate. Fellow rookie Zack Gelof hit a triple and scored two runs.
Lopez (5-5) finished the day with a final stat line of a season-high seven earned runs allowed off eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Jovani Moran (2-2) earned the win and Oakland’s Freddy Tarnok (0-1) was saddled with a loss.
Minnesota (47-46) scored two runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Carlos Correa had an RBI single and Michael Taylor hit his 11th home run of the season. Kyle Farmer went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and broke a 7-7 tie in the seventh inning with his fifth homer of the year. Willi Castro had a triple and stole home. Minnesota had 11 hits, five going for extra bases.
The A’s have now lost at least six games in a row for the fifth time this season and is now halfway to equaling their worst skid of 11 consecutive defeats. The AL Central-leading Minnesota will attempt to go two games over .500 at 1:07 p.m. on Sunday.