Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored and Gary Sanchez drove in three runs as the Minnesota Twins routed the host Oakland Athletics 14-4 in the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday.
Ryan Jeffers added two hits and two RBIs for Minnesota, which set a season high for runs scored and won for the fourth time in its last six games.
Minnesota starter Sonny Gray (1-1) allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over six innings.
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa returned after missing the past 11 games with a right finger contusion and went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
Luis Barrera had three hits, and Kevin Smith, Seth Brown and Ramon Laureano had two apiece for Oakland, which has lost five of its last seven games.
Minnesota jumped on Oakland starter Daulton Jefferies (1-7) for three runs with two outs in the first inning. After three of the first five batters reached base safely, Sanchez singled in two runs and Gio Urshela followed with an RBI single.
Oakland answered in the bottom half when Laureano doubled with two out and scored on Brown’s single to left field.
Sanchez put the Twins ahead 4-1 with a run-scoring double off the right-field wall in the third.
The A’s cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third when Brown tripled with two out and scored on Christian Bethancourt’s single.
Minnesota extended its lead with two runs in the fourth. Byron Buxton drew a two-out walk and scored on Arraez’s double. Carlos Correa followed with a run-scoring double.
Jefferies lost his seventh straight start, allowing six runs on seven hits over four innings. He walked three and struck out five.
The Twins, who won the season series against Oakland by a 5-1 margin, pulled away with five runs in the sixth after Kirby Snead began the inning by walking the first two batters.
Jorge Polanco followed with a run-scoring single before Correa scored from third on Max Kepler’s sacrifice fly. Jeffers doubled in two runs with two out and Nick Gordon singled in a run to cap the inning.
Oakland position player Chad Pinder pitched the ninth inning and allowed three runs, including Gilberto Celestino’s two-run single.
–Field Level Media