GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (28-26) at OAKLAND (27-27)

Gaudin, bullpen hold off Twins

<h3>OAKLAND 4, MINNESOTA 2</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics picked upwhere they left off against Johan Santana.

Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, and Bobby Crosby each contributed anRBI, and Chad Gaudin and the bullpen held the Minnesota Twins incheck en route to a 4-2 victory on Sunday.

In Game One of the 2006 American League Division Series, thelefthander suffered the loss against Oakland before going on toeventually sweep the series. The Athletics managed just enoughoffense and got some help from the Twins defense, to hand thetwo-time Cy Young award winner his fifth loss this season.

Santana (6-5) yielded four runs and six hits in six inningswhile walking four and striking out four. The lefthander hastossed at least five innings for 103 starts in a row, which isthe second longest streak behind Curt Schilling (147) by anypitcher in the last 50 years.

Gaudin (6-1), who entered with the second best ERA in theAmerican league (2.32) behind teammate Dan Haren (1.64),surrendered eight hits in five innings but yielded only tworuns. The righthander has won a career-high tying fiveconsecutive games.

Jason Kubel led off the sixth with a solo blast to right offGaudin and Jason Bartlett followed with single, chasing therighthander. For Gaudin, Kubel's shot snapped a string of 67innings pitched without allowing a home run.

Five Oakland relievers bridged the gap to Alan Embree, who gotthe last four outs for his fourth save.

Oakland opened the scoring in the first, when Mark Ellis doubledto left before being plated by Nick Swisher's RBI single for a1-0 edge.

Minnesota threatened in the third when Jason Tyner led off theinning with a double, Nick Punto drew a base on balls, and afterMichael Cuddyer struck out, Justin Morneau was intentionallywalked to load the bases. Gaudin ended the threat though bygetting Torii Hunter to pop up to short right field ending theframe.

In the bottom of the frame when Shannon Stewart led off thethird with a single to left, and after Nick Swisher and DanJohnson walked to load the bases, Eric Chavez belted a sacrificefly to center plating Stewart to give the Athletics a 2-0 edge.

Twins shortstop Bartlett then fielded Bobby Crosby's groundball, and while attempting to get an inning-ending force atsecond, threw the ball past second baseman Luis Castillo andinto right field, allowing Swisher and Johnson to score andgiving Oakland a 4-0 lead.

 

AL: MINNESOTA at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (2) AT OAKLAND (4) - HOW THEY SCORED
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OAKLAND 1ST: S Stewart popped out to pitcher. M Ellis doubled to left.
N Swisher singled to left, M Ellis scored. D Johnson walked, N Swisher to
second. N Swisher to third, D Johnson to second on wild pitch by J Santana.
E Chavez walked. B Crosby grounded into double play, shortstop to second to
first, E Chavez out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 3RD: S Stewart singled to center. M Ellis flied out to center.
N Swisher walked, S Stewart to second. D Johnson walked, S Stewart to third,
N Swisher to second. E Chavez hit sacrifice fly to center, S Stewart scored,
N Swisher to third. B Crosby reached on infield single to shortstop, N Swisher
scored, D Johnson to third, D Johnson scored, B Crosby to third on throwing
error by shortstop J Bartlett. J Cust struck out looking. (3 Runs, 2 Hits,
1 Error) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 5TH: L Castillo reached on infield single to catcher. N Punto
walked, L Castillo to second. M Cuddyer singled to center, L Castillo scored,
N Punto to second. J Morneau flied out to left. T Hunter grounded into
fielder's choice to third, M Cuddyer out at second. M Redmond grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Kubel homered to center. J Bartlett singled to left.
R Flores relieved C Gaudin. J Tyner flied out to center. L Castillo flied out
to left. N Punto walked, J Bartlett to second. S Casilla relieved R Flores.
J Bartlett stole third. N Punto stole second. M Cuddyer struck out swinging.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 4.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (2) AT OAKLAND (4) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- L Castillo 2B, N Punto 3B, M Cuddyer RF,
J Morneau 1B, T Hunter CF, M Redmond C, J Kubel LF, J Bartlett SS, J Tyner DH,
J Santana LHP.

Oakland Starting Lineups -- S Stewart LF, M Ellis 2B, N Swisher RF, D Johnson
1B, E Chavez 3B, B Crosby SS, J Cust DH, M Kotsay CF, J Kendall C, C Gaudin RHP.

Umpires -- Mike Muchlinski (HP), Ed Montague (1B), Bill Miller (2B),
Marvin Hudson (3B).

Gametime Weather: 62 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind out to left at 17 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: L Castillo singled to left. L Castillo stole second.
N Punto grounded out to first, L Castillo to third. M Cuddyer walked. J Morneau
grounded into double play, shortstop to first, M Cuddyer out at second.(0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 1ST: S Stewart popped out to pitcher. M Ellis doubled to left.
N Swisher singled to left, M Ellis scored. D Johnson walked, N Swisher to
second. N Swisher to third, D Johnson to second on wild pitch by J Santana.
E Chavez walked. B Crosby grounded into double play, shortstop to second to
first, E Chavez out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 1.

MINNESOTA 2ND: T Hunter flied out to center. M Redmond fouled out to
right. J Kubel singled to left. J Bartlett flied out to center. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 2ND: J Cust struck out looking. M Kotsay grounded out to pitcher,
M Kotsay out at first. J Kendall flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 1.

MINNESOTA 3RD: J Tyner hit a ground rule double to deep center. L Castillo
grounded out to second, J Tyner to third. N Punto walked. M Cuddyer struck
out swinging, N Punto stole second. J Morneau intentionally walked. T Hunter
popped out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 3RD: S Stewart singled to center. M Ellis flied out to center.
N Swisher walked, S Stewart to second. D Johnson walked, S Stewart to third,
N Swisher to second. E Chavez hit sacrifice fly to center, S Stewart scored,
N Swisher to third. B Crosby reached on infield single to shortstop, N Swisher
scored, D Johnson to third, D Johnson scored, B Crosby to third on throwing
error by shortstop J Bartlett. J Cust struck out looking. (3 Runs, 2 Hits,
1 Error) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 4TH: M Redmond struck out swinging. J Kubel singled to center.
J Bartlett walked, J Kubel to second. J Tyner grounded into double play,
shortstop to third to second, J Bartlett out at second, J Kubel out at third,
J Tyner to first.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 4.

OAKLAND 4TH: M Kotsay grounded out to first. J Kendall singled to left.
S Stewart lined into double play, second to first, J Kendall doubled off first.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 5TH: L Castillo reached on infield single to catcher. N Punto
walked, L Castillo to second. M Cuddyer singled to center, L Castillo scored,
N Punto to second. J Morneau flied out to left. T Hunter grounded into
fielder's choice to third, M Cuddyer out at second. M Redmond grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, OAKLAND 4.

OAKLAND 5TH: M Ellis flied out to left. N Swisher grounded out to
shortstop. D Johnson struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 1, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Kubel homered to center. J Bartlett singled to left.
R Flores relieved C Gaudin. J Tyner flied out to center. L Castillo flied out
to left. N Punto walked, J Bartlett to second. S Casilla relieved R Flores.
J Bartlett stole third. N Punto stole second. M Cuddyer struck out swinging.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 4.

OAKLAND 6TH: E Chavez lined out to center. B Crosby flied out to right.
J Cust struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 7TH: J Morneau popped out to third. T Hunter struck out
swinging. M Redmond struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2,
OAKLAND 4.

OAKLAND 7TH: M Guerrier relieved J Santana. M Kotsay grounded out to
shortstop. J Kendall grounded out to shortstop. S Stewart walked. M Ellis
singled to left, S Stewart to second. N Swisher walked, S Stewart to third,
M Ellis to second. C Cali relieved M Guerrier. D Johnson flied out to center.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 8TH: J Marshall relieved S Casilla. J Kubel grounded out to
second. J Bartlett walked. J Cirillo hit for J Tyner. K Calero relieved
J Marshall. J Cirillo fouled out to first. A Embree relieved K Calero.
L Castillo flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2,
OAKLAND 4.

OAKLAND 8TH: E Chavez singled to right. B Crosby fouled out to first.
J Cust grounded into fielder's choice to second, E Chavez out at second.
M Kotsay grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2,
OAKLAND 4.

MINNESOTA 9TH: N Punto flied out to right. M Cuddyer lined out to center.
J Morneau grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2,
OAKLAND 4.</div>

 

Gaudin, bullpen hold off Twins

<h3>OAKLAND 4, MINNESOTA 2</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics picked upwhere they left off against Johan Santana.

Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez and Bobby Crosby each contributed anRBI, and Chad Gaudin and the bullpen held the Minnesota Twins incheck en route to a 4-2 victory on Sunday.

In Game One of the 2006 American League Division Series, Santanasuffered the loss against Oakland before going on to eventuallysweep the series. The Athletics managed just enough offenseand got some help from the Twins defense, to hand the two-timeCy Young award winner his fifth loss this season.

"We couldn't score runs, or get people out," Santana said."That's just the way it is. Somebody has to win, and they did.They played better than us, and took advantage of certainsituations. They put some runs on the board, and pitched wellthe whole game."

"Beating somebody like Santana is quite a chore," Athleticsmanager Bob Geren said. "Congratulations to our offense forgetting some runs off him. He's one of the best pitchers inbaseball obviously, and it's always great when you can get a winoff someone that."

Santana (6-5) yielded four runs and six hits in six inningswhile walking four and striking out four. The lefthander hastossed at least five innings for 103 starts in a row, which isthe second longest streak behind Curt Schilling (147) by anypitcher in the last 50 years.

Gaudin (6-1), who entered with the second best ERA in theAmerican league (2.32) behind teammate Dan Haren (1.64),surrendered eight hits in five innings but yielded only tworuns. The righthander has won a career-high tying fiveconsecutive games.

"It's tough against a guy like that," Gaudin said. "You knowhe's not going to give up a lot of runs, and you have tominimize pitches because he's going to do the same. It was abattle, and even though I didn't have my best stuff, I justtried to go out there and battle. When you come out of a gamelike this with a win, it's tremendous."

Jason Kubel led off the sixth with a solo blast to right offGaudin and Jason Bartlett followed with single, chasing therighthander. For Gaudin, Kubel's shot snapped a string of 67innings pitched without allowing a home run.

Five Oakland relievers bridged the gap to Alan Embree, who gotthe last four outs for his fourth save.

"I feel very fortunate," said Embree, who has assumed the closerrole in the absence of the injured Huston Street. "If this ifthe role that I have to take on to help the team win, so be it.I'd much rather be handing the ball to Huston, but I have totake advantage of the situation and enjoy it."

Oakland opened the scoring in the first, when Mark Ellis doubledto left before being plated by Nick Swisher's RBI single for a1-0 edge.

"We went out there and played well today," Swisher said. "He'snot immortal. He's a tough pitcher and you bring your 'A' gamewhen you face him. He's got two Cy Young's under his belt andyou know that everyone has to face him and do their best."

Minnesota threatened in the third when Jason Tyner led off theinning with a double, Nick Punto drew a base on balls, and afterMichael Cuddyer struck out, Justin Morneau was intentionallywalked to load the bases. Gaudin ended the threat though bygetting Torii Hunter to pop up to short right field ending theframe.

"We missed some opportunities early," Twins manager RonGardenhire said. "We left too may runners on base, and swung atsome bad pitches in certain situations. We knew that they havegood pitchers here and runs were going to be at a premium."

In the bottom of the frame when Shannon Stewart led off thethird with a single to left, and after Nick Swisher and DanJohnson walked to load the bases, Eric Chavez belted a sacrificefly to center plating Stewart to give the Athletics a 2-0 edge.

Twins shortstop Bartlett then fielded Bobby Crosby's groundball, and while attempting to get an inning-ending force atsecond, threw the ball past second baseman Luis Castillo andinto right field, allowing Swisher and Johnson to score andgiving Oakland a 4-0 lead.

"It was a disappointing day," Gardenhire said. "You obviouslysee that if you miss a play it can cost you. We missed one playtoday, and it cost us a couple of runs. Bartlett made a niceplay to get to the ball, but threw it away. It happens."