Twins' bats stay quiet in shutout by Athletics

Ben Margot, Associated Press

Right fielder Jason Kubel (16) backs up second baseman Matt Tolbert, left, as Tolbert catches a ball hit by Oakland's Mark Ellis.

Losing to great pitchers is one thing, but Minnesota is struggling to produce runs no matter who is on the mound.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: April 24, 2008 - 11:49 AM

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OAKLAND 3, TWINS 0

Up next: 2:35 p.m. today vs. Oakland

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OAKLAND, CALIF. - Getting shut down by Cleveland's Cliff Lee, whose stuff was electric and control impeccable last week, is one thing. But Oakland's Chad Gaudin?

Gaudin was far from overpowering, but he managed to baffle Twins hitters Wednesday night as the Athletics scratched out a 3-0 victory at McAfee Coliseum. Gaudin held the Twins to four hits over seven innings before handing off to the bullpen.

"He was ahead in the count and he made us swing," manager Ron Gardenhire said of Gaudin. "I think he was pretty good. We swung at a lot of first pitches because he was throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes and getting ahead of everyone. The ball was sinking a lot and he got us to roll over."

It might not have been all Gaudin's work. This is the Twins' offense, after all. They entered the game ranked 13th in the American League in runs scored.

Denard Span led off but hadn't played since Friday. It was hard to remember the last time Joe Mauer hit a ball hard before his double in the ninth inning. Delmon Young is just beginning to show signs of life. Mike Lamb is trying to break the .200 barrier.

Span led off the game with an infield hit -- and the Twins didn't get another hit until 14 batters later, on Jason Kubel's solid single to center in the fifth. The Twins' best scoring threat came in the seventh when Young and Kubel delivered two-out singles. But Gaudin got Craig Monroe out in front of a 3-2 splitter for a pop out to end the inning.

''The close ones, where our pitchers have kept us in the game, we haven't been able to get it done," Kubel said of the struggling offense. "It won't always be that way."

It made Twins righthander Boof Bonser a tough-luck loser. He can take a lot of good things out of his six-inning outing but the reason he's 1-4 in 2008 is because he walked four batters Wednesday -- with two of them scoring.

Mike Sweeney opened the second inning with a walk, a big no-no for a pitcher. Sweeney, despite a sore right knee, advanced to third on Jack Cust's single then scored on a sacrifice fly to give Oakland a 1-0 lead.

Bonser got the first two outs of the third inning but lost Daric Barton, who soon moved to second on Mark Ellis' single. That brought Sweeney up, and the veteran slapped a single to right to score Barton and give Oakland a 2-0 lead.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire looked at the Athletics starting lineup before Wednesday's game and his eyes glazed over when he saw Sweeney listed at the cleanup hitter.

He's the last player Gardenhire wants to see. Sweeney last season broke up Scott Baker's no-hit bid with one out in the ninth. On Tuesday, Sweeney singled off Joe Nathan in the ninth inning.

Gardenhire couldn't avoid Sweeney on Wednesday. The former Royals All-Star was in the starting lineup and burned the Twins with a homer and two RBI. He has a career .335 average against the Twins, with 23 homers and 104 RBI in 132 games.

"Sweeney seems to have good swings against us," Gardenhire said. "... When he's healthy and he has a bat in his hands, he's very dangerous."