Aug 20, 2008 3:35 pm US/Central
Twins Send Slumping A's To 11 Series Losses In Row
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
Mike Redmond drove in two runs for the Minnesota Twins, who survived some wildness by Francisco Liriano and beat Oakland 3-1 on Wednesday to send the Athletics to their 11th straight series defeat.
The last time the A's lost 11 series in a row was 1960, when they played in Kansas City.
The Twins won their 11th consecutive home series, improving to 30-9 at the Metrodome since June 1 in their last home game until Sept. 5. They play 14 straight on the road, beginning Thursday against the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels. Only six of their next 30 games are in Minnesota.
This will be a defining stretch for the Twins, who began the day one game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
Liriano (4-3) was still strong enough to win with five innings against the lifeless A's, who are 6-25 since the All-Star break.
The only run Liriano allowed was unearned, caused by an error on sure-fielding second baseman Nick Punto when he suddenly couldn't find a groundball hit right to him by Mark Ellis to start the game.
Punto later stopped a two-out rolling single by Jack Cust with a dive that took him into shallow center field, but he didn't have time for a strong throw and Ellis scored easily.
Though he lowered his ERA this month to 1.14, Liriano did not look sharp. He threw a season-high 107 pitches, only 64 of them for strikes. He gave up five hits, walked three and struck out five against a lagging Oakland lineup that came into the game batting only .217 in the second half.
The A's were held to one run or less for the 34th time this year, more than a quarter of their games.
Oakland starter Dallas Braden (3-3) actually appeared to outpitch his counterpart, but got little support and gave up a pair of two-out RBI singles -- to Justin Morneau in the first inning and Redmond in the third.
Giving regular catcher Joe Mauer a break for the afternoon, Redmond also drove in Punto with a base hit off Braden in the sixth to make it 3-1.
Making his sixth start after some time in the bullpen and Triple A, Braden threw a season-high 102 pitches but struck out seven in 5 2-3 innings. He allowed six hits and walked three.
The Twins have overexposed their bullpen lately, but Boof Bonser gave them a big lift with two hitless innings in relief of Liriano. The right-hander, bumped from the rotation in May, has struggled through most of the season until being more effective recently. Dennys Reyes walked Cust to start the eighth, but Jesse Crain retired the next three.
Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 34th save, and the Twins walked off winners for the sixth time in seven games.
Notes: The Twins planned to activate 2B Alexi Casilla from the disabled list after the game.
The A's plan to skip Sean Gallagher's next start, and probably Justin Duscherer's, too.
Bonser had a 8.74 ERA in his first 14 relief appearances, but in six games since his ERA is 2.89 -- three earned runs in 9 1-3 innings.
The A's have lost 11 of their last 13 at the Metrodome.
Reyes faced only one batter for the 17th time this season.
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