Yoenis Cespedes shines as Oakland Athletics thrash Minnesota Twins 9-4 – MLB Update
Oakland Athletics were simply outstanding on Sunday as they crushed the Minnesota Twins 9-4 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League baseball regular season.
Yoenis Cespedes had an excellent time on the plate as he finished with a career high four hits including a mighty home-run in the second inning to play a key role in Oakland’s victory.
"Very strong, shooting the ball all over the field, opposite field," Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire said of Cespedes. "A big strong kid and hits your mistakes very hard."
With an RBI single to right in the first inning, he drove in the first run for his team. Left-fielder Jonny Gomes homered to left-centre in the second inning to put the Athletics in a strong 4-1 position.
"I think at times when you hit homers they actually play better than just the runs that are put up on the board," Melvin said. "On the other side, it can get you down a little bit when the guys start hitting the ball out of the ballpark. It just has a different
effect than say maybe a single with a guy on second base."
Chris Carter and Seth Smith also homered as the Athletics took complete control of the situation. Twins’ starting pitcher Brian Duensing looked out of sorts as he gave up seven hits and six runs in just two innings, taking his sixth loss of the season.
With their win on July 13, the A’s also completed their emphatic series win against the Twins. Bob Melvin and company outclassed their opponents in the series opener and they continued the excellent work in Game 2 to put the Twins under immense pressure.
Oakland (46-43), who struggled to make the most of available opportunities in May and June, is looking like a completely different team these days. With nine wins in their last 11 games, the Athletics are definitely back in the race for a potential wild
card spot.
The way they have started their road trip is a very positive sign and it will be interesting to see if they can continue this impressive winning streak to trouble the American League West Division leaders, Texas Rangers.
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