Minnesota Twins shutout Oakland Athletics 4-0 to extend their winning streak – MLB Update
Minnesota Twins completed their series sweep as they shutout Oakland Athletics 4-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday, May 30 in the finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Throughout the season, the Twins have struggled to win games on regular basis and it will not be wrong to say that they are having their worst seasons in a decade. Josh Willingham took complete advantage of Oakland’s unforced errors and he earned an RBI single to right centre in the first to give 1-0 lead to the Twins.
Brian Dozier also played a key role in building Minnesota’s lead with a single to centre in the first inning.
Both teams failed to score any runs in the next three innings before Willingham hit a two run home run to left in the fifth as the Twins took a commanding 4-0 lead.
Credit must also be given to Twins’ closers for the way they pitched in closing stages of the game, denying Oakland an entry back into contest. Francisco Liriano pitched six shutout innings to sent Athletics to their eighth straight loss.
"I told myself before the game, the season starts for me today,” said Liriano in a post game interview.
"The big thing for me: He kept his composure," catcher Drew Butera said. "He has an electric fastball, and obviously you know about that slider. When he's got his stuff, when he's throwing strikes, he's a true ace."
"We need him in the rotation. I think the story's been told too many times about how good his stuff is. He's got to go out on the field and get it done, and today was a good start. We'll work from there," Gardenhire said.
It seems the Twins have finally caught a break as they extended their winning streak to three games. General Manager Terry Ryan and Manager Ron Gardenhire will be extremely happy with they saw from the players throughout the series and it will be interesting to see if the Twins can continue their winning streak to get close to the .500 win percentage mark before the All Star Break.
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