Recap: Oakland vs. Minnesota

By Sports Network

Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Kurt Suzuki had a pinch-hit, game-winning double in the ninth to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a four-game set.

With the contest knotted at 2-2, Ryan Sweeney opened the ninth with a single off Craig Breslow (0-2) and moved to second on Daric Barton's sac bunt. Jesse Crain was called in from the 'pen to face pinch-hitter Emil Brown, who worked a walk before being replaced at first by Cliff Pennington. Suzuki then belted a double off the wall in left-center to score Sweeney for the 3-2 victory.

"I was just kind of looking in one zone for a pitch to hit," Suzuki said. "You always want to be in that spot to be able to drive in the winning run. Any time you can get a hit like that it's fun."

Barton had the other RBI for the A's, who have won two games in a row for the first time since July 10-11. Sweeney and Bobby Crosby both had two hits and scored a run in the win. Starter Dana Eveland pitched well but wound up with a no-decision, as he lasted seven innings and gave up two runs on five hits while walking three with a pair of strikeouts. Joey Devine (4-0) was dealt the win after tossing a scoreless ninth.

Justin Morneau and Nick Punto both drove in a run for the Twins, who have dropped five of their last six. Starter Nick Blackburn lasted 5 2/3 innings and was touched for two runs on six hits while registering a pair of walks and as many strikeouts in the no-decision.

With the loss, Minnesota fell 1 1/2 games back of the idle first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and remained 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings. Boston fell to New York earlier Thursday.

"We pretty much don't worry about the other guys, we have to take care of our own business," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We're on a long road trip and we've been battling things a lot ourselves, so we're just trying to figure out how to do a little better job."

The A's broke a scoreless tie in the fourth frame as Frank Thomas led off with a double to left. Sweeney singled to make it first and third before Barton hit a grounder up the middle that Alexi Casilla made a diving stop for. The second baseman flipped the ball to Punto, who relayed it to Morneau for the double play. Thomas, though, was able to cross home to give Oakland a 1-0 lead.

Minnesota rallied to tie it up in the sixth. Denard Span legged out an infield single and was safe at second as Casilla grounded into a fielder's choice. The runners crafted a double steal and Joe Mauer walked to load the bases, which led to Morneau's game-tying sac fly to left field.

Oakland took the lead back, 2-1, in the home half. Crosby led off with a double and, after Jack Cust and Thomas were retired, Sweeney worked a walk to make it first and second. Barton then hit a lazy fly ball to shallow left that dropped in for an RBI single.

Delmon Young led off the seventh with a double, moved to third on a Brendan Harris fly ball to right and came home on Punto's single to tie the game at two.