(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Third baseman Luis Arraez threw wildly to first on a potential game-ending ground ball with two outs in the 10th inning Wednesday afternoon, allowing the tying and winning runs to score as the Oakland Athletics rallied for an 11th straight win, 13-12 over the visiting Minnesota Twins. After Byron Buxton launched a two-run home run off Oakland closer Lou Trivino with one out in the top of the 10th, Twins closer Alex Colome got two outs in the last of the inning before walking Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus to load the bases. Twins second baseman Travis Blankenhorn had a chance to end the game on a grounder by Mark Canha but booted it, allowing Oakland to close within 12-11 and bringing Ramon Laureano to the plate.
Colome (1-2) got within one strike of the win, then got Laureano to hit a one-hopper to Arraez, whose routine throw across the diamond was nowhere near first baseman Willians Astudillo and into the Twins bullpen. Pinch runner Tony Kemp and Andrus scored to cap a three-run uprising that did not feature a single hit. Deolis Guerra (1-0), who recorded the final out of the top of the 10th, was credited with the win as the A's swept the three-game series. Nelson Cruz smacked two home runs and Josh Donaldson added one among his four hits as the Twins, after getting shut out twice in a row, saw their bats come alive in the series finale. Still, they lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Down three runs, the A's got back within 10-9 on a two-run double by Jed Lowrie in the sixth, then forced extra innings when Matt Chapman hit a sacrifice fly off Colome in the last of the ninth. Jorge Polanco also had four hits for Minnesota, which collected 18 hits one day after being held to a total of eight hits over the 14 innings of Tuesday's doubleheader. Donaldson's homer, his first of the season, was a solo shot off A's starter Frankie Montas in the first inning. Cruz followed a Donaldson RBI single with a two-run homer in the third, then led off a three-run fifth with a solo shot. The two homers gave him six for the season. Cruz finished with four RBIs and Donaldson scored three times. Buxton had three hits and Arraez and Cruz had two each for the Twins, who out-hit the A's 18-13. Matt Olson homered twice for the A's, once leading off a three-run second off Twins starter Kenta Maeda to give Oakland a 3-1 lead, and then his sixth of the season, following a Lowrie double in the third. A homer by Brown later in the third, his third of the season, gave Oakland a 7-4 lead. Olson and Brown collected three hits apiece for Oakland while Lowrie and Mark Canha had two hits each.
Baez's grand slam highlights Cubs' rout of Mets
Javier Baez smacked a grand slam and the host Chicago Cubs capitalized on four New York Mets errors Wednesday en route to a 16-4 victory. David Bote had two hits and four RBIs for the Cubs, and Matt Duffy had three hits and three RBIs. Chicago earned its third win in four games behind a season-high offensive output that started with a seven-run fourth inning. After managing just one baserunner against Mets left-hander David Peterson in the first three innings, the Cubs erupted in the middle part of the game.
Results
Athletics 13-12 Twins
Cubs 16-4 Mets
Brewers 4-2 Padres
Braves 4-1 Yankees
Nationals 1-0 Cardinals
Marlins 3-0 Orioles
Phillies 6-5 Giants
Royals 9-8 Rays
Pirates 3-2 Tigers
Tigers 5-2 Pirates
Rangers 7-4 Angels
Blue Jays 6-3 Red Sox
Rockies 6-3 Astros
D'Backs 5-4 Reds
D'Backs 8-5 Reds
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