Saarloos steps in to help lead A's past Twins 3-2
Posted By ap 3 months ago in Sports
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Kirk Saarloos pitched 3 2-3 shutout innings after Justin Duchscherer left with a hip injury and the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Monday night.
Mark Ellis homered and Kurt Suzuki had two RBIs for Oakland, which got a nice effort from Saarloos after he was called up from Triple-A Sacramento earlier in the day to bolster a struggling A's bullpen that was 1-5 over its last 18 games.
Duchscherer departed with right hip pain after throwing a pitch to Joe Mauer with two outs in the third and Oakland leading 1-0.
A's right-hander Brad Ziegler surrendered an RBI triple to Mauer in his first outing since his career opening scoreless streak of 39 innings was snapped on Thursday against Tampa Bay. Ziegler tied a 59-year-old major league record for relievers with his streak.
Mauer scored when left fielder Eric Patterson's throw skipped into Minnesota's dugout, cutting Oakland's lead to 3-2. Justin Morneau followed with a single but Ziegler got Jason Kubel to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Ziegler also worked the ninth for his third save in as many chances.
Saarloos, a 29-year-old who has spent time with Houston, Cincinnati and Oakland, retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced, baffling a Minnesota team that entered Monday tied for the AL Central lead with the Chicago White Sox.
This is Saarloos' second stint with the A's this season. He last pitched in the majors on April 17.
The Twins didn't get a runner past second base until Kubel reached third on Randy Ruiz's two-out double in the seventh. Huston Street then got Brendan Harris to line out to shortstop to end the threat.
Ellis went deep on Nick Blackburn's first pitch for his third career leadoff homer and first since Aug. 25, 2005, against Detroit.
Suzuki's fourth-inning single scored Frank Thomas and Jack Cust.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Minnesota and wasted a good start from Blackburn (9-7).
The rookie pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
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