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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Eric Milton doesn't like pitching against
the Oakland Athletics. He'll take the results, though.
Milton (13-9) pitched 5 1/3 strong innings to beat the A's for
the third time this season, as the Minnesota Twins won 7-6
Wednesday.
|  | | Eric Milton ended a four-start winless streak with his third win this season over the A's. |
"I don't enjoy facing these guys at all," said Milton, 0-3 in
four previous starts. "(Jason) Giambi pretty much owns me.
Everybody in that lineup hits me good, even the left-handers. It's
not a team I like facing."
Jacque Jones homered and drove in three runs as the Twins
stopped their three-game losing streak.
Gil Heredia (14-11), who pitched a complete game in his previous
start, lasted just four innings Wednesday. He allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits.
"If I miss location, I'm going to get hurt and that's exactly
what happened," Heredia said. "It's frustrating. A loss like this
takes it toll on you. We've had good starting pitching until
today."
Oakland fell two games behind Seattle in the AL
West when the Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 in 11 innings. The A's are 1½ games behind Cleveland in the wild-card race and had
their four-game winning streak stopped. Cleveland beat Boston 10-3.
"We didn't deserve it because we didn't play well," A's
manager Art Howe said. "We're not going to be perfect every day."
Milton, 3-0 in four starts against Oakland this year, allowed
two runs on four hits through three innings, then didn't allow
another hit until Giambi singled with one out in the sixth. He
ended up yielding four runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts and
one walk.
"I threw the ball well. I just made a couple of mistakes and
let them right back in the game," Milton said. "It was nice to
get the win even if I didn't deserve it."
LaTroy Hawkins allowed a two-out, two-run single to Terrence
Long in the ninth, then struck out Randy Velarde for his 12th save.
"He made it exciting," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "He
recovered in time to get the job done."
Corey Koskie finished 4-for-5 with two doubles and two runs
scored for the Twins.
David Ortiz gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the first with a
two-out double to score Denny Hocking, who opened with a single and
stole second.
Jones put the Twins in front 2-0 in the second with his 18th
homer.
The A's tied it on Miguel Tejada's 26th homer in the second, and
Giambi's run-scoring single in the third.
Minnesota regained the lead in the fourth on Jones' RBI single,
and added another run on catcher Sal Fasano's throwing error. With
the bases loaded, Cristian Guzman grounded back to Heredia, who
threw home for one out. Fasano then threw the relay throw into
right field, allowing A.J. Pierzynski to score.
"We attacked the game pretty good," Kelly said. "We had a
good day with the bats and we needed every single one of those
runs."
Jay Canizaro doubled home a run and Jones added an RBI single in
the fifth to make it 6-2.
Mike Stanley's 14th homer of the season, a two-run shot off
Milton with one out in the sixth, cut the lead to 6-4. Adam Piatt
followed with a triple to end Milton's afternoon. Bob Wells
replaced Milton and got Ben Grieve to line into a double play and
end the inning.
Matt Lawton added an RBI single in the eighth.
Game notes
Twins OF Torii Hunter missed his fourth straight game
because of a strained groin. He's expected to return to the lineup Friday against Anaheim. ... The Twins scored five runs with two
outs. ... The Twins hit five doubles and have 37 in their last 13
games. ... Oakland 3B Eric Chavez was given the day off to rest a
sore heel, but grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. ... The
A's have hit 23 homers in 11 games. ... Grieve has hit into a major
league-leading 29 double plays this season, one short of the
franchise record of 30 set by Billy Hitchcock in 1950. ... Howe
announced after the game he was going to flip Tim Hudson and Barry
Zito in the rotation so that Hudson will pitch against the Mariners
next weekend.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Oakland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 7
Oakland 6
Cleveland 10
Boston 3
NY Yankees 3
Toronto 2
Chi. White Sox 1
Detroit 0
Baltimore 9
Texas 4
Anaheim 8
Tampa Bay 4
Seattle 2
Kansas City 1
NY Mets 4
Milwaukee 1
Cincinnati 13
Chicago Cubs 3
Philadelphia 15
Montreal 5
St. Louis 9
Pittsburgh 5
Atlanta 4
Florida 0
San Francisco 3
Houston 2
Arizona 3
Los Angeles 2
Colorado 11
San Diego 0
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