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Wednesday, Jun. 14 8:05pm ET
Hudson wins sixth straight for A's | |||||
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GAME LOG
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Oakland will take Tim Hudson vs. Sean Bergman any day. Hudson won his sixth straight decision, and third consecutive start against Bergman and Minnesota, as the surging Athletics defeated the Twins 9-6 Wednesday night. "Some people just match up better against certain lineups," said Hudson, who saw his ERA fall to 1.19 against the Twins this year. "Obviously I go out there with a bit of confidence." Hudson (7-2) allowed one run and three hits in eight innings to improve to 6-0 over his last 10 starts. He has not lost since April 20 at Cleveland. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three in his longest outing of the season. "He's established himself as one of the better pitchers in the league and he cycled us again tonight," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "Look at his record," manager Art Howe said. "The man can pitch, period." Bergman (4-5), meanwhile, allowed five runs and 11 hits in six innings in falling to 0-3 against Hudson and Oakland this season. He actually lowered his ERA against the A's from 27 to 15.68. "They've really had my number," Bergman said. "This team might feel confident against me knowing they've hit me pretty well in the past, but I also need to make better pitches. "I knew I had to have good stuff tonight against Hudson because he's showed what a pitcher he is," Bergman added. Jason Giambi and Ben Grieve hit back-to-back homers for Oakland, which won for the 11th time in 14 games. The A's are seven games over .500 for the first time this season and, at 36-29, are off to their best start in eight years. Oakland leads the majors with a 21-12 road record. Giambi went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in four runs. He hit a two-run homer in the third and Grieve followed with a solo shot as Oakland won for the 11th time in 14 games. Giambi reached base safely in 21 of 25 plate appearances. "You start to get in that zone or whatever," Giambi said. "After a while you just get in sync with everything going on in the game." Matt Stairs went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs for the Athletics. He was 1-for-19 on the current road trip. Jacque Jones hit a three-run homer as Minnesota scored five times in the ninth inning. David Ortiz also homered for the Twins. Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Eric Chavez's sacrifice fly. Stairs led off with a double off Bergman and moved to third on a groundout. Chavez then lifted a fly ball that Jones caught at the center-field wall. In the third, Randy Velarde singled with one out and scored on Giambi's 20th home run. Grieve followed with his ninth homer, a 408-foot shot off Bergman that made it 4-0. David Ortiz homered off Hudson in the fourth to cut Minnesota's deficit to 4-1. Ortiz hit a 425-foot shot to center for his second homer. Stairs hit a solo shot in the sixth, his 11th, to restore Oakland's four-run lead. Giambi's RBI double in the seventh made it 6-1, and he hit an RBI single in the ninth. Stairs drove in two runs with a single to make it 9-1. Minnesota's Matt Lawton singled in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games. Game notesIt was the fifth time the A's have hit back-to-back homers this year. ... Oakland has won 15-of-21 games since a five-game losing streak. The A's have not lost consecutive games since that streak. ... In 1992, the A's were 39-26 after 65 games. ... Oakland won its eighth road series of the year, after winning just seven in 1999. ... Bergman has gone six-plus innings in just five of his 14 starts. ... Oakland has won five of six in Minnesota, its most wins in the Metrodome since going 5-2 in 1983. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Oakland Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS NY Yankees 2 Boston 1
Oakland 9
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