Twins get no A for effort against A's

David Brewster, Star Tribune

After forcing out Kurt Suzuki, Twins second baseman Nick Punto watched his throw to first base force out Carlos Gonzalez, one of two double-play grounders induced by Twins righthander Nick Blackburn on Monday night at the Metrodome.

The Twins trailed after one pitch and couldn't come back after that, falling out of the division lead as a result.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: August 19, 2008 - 1:20 AM

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OAKLAND 3, TWINS 2

Up next: 7:10 p.m. tonight vs. Oakland • Metrodome • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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The pennant race won't wait for the Twins to get bad games out of their system.

They missed a big opening Monday, when hip soreness forced Oakland All-Star Justin Duchscherer from the game in the third inning.

The Athletics bullpen kept the Twins guessing until the eighth inning, when Joe Mauer delivered a big hit against previously untouchable rookie Brad Ziegler.

It made for an exciting ending, but Ziegler closed the door, giving slumping Oakland a 3-2 victory before an announced crowd of 25,024 at the Metrodome.

The Twins had their four-game winning streak end and fell out of their first-place tie with the White Sox, who roughed up Seattle 13-5.

After Duchscherer kept the Twins scoreless for 2 2/3 innings, the A's turned to Kirk Saarloos, who had been promoted from Class AAA Sacramento only one day earlier.

Saarloos (1-0) pitched 3 2/3 innings -- needing only 42 pitches to record 11 outs -- during a critical stretch when Oakland upped its lead to 3-0 against Twins starter Nick Blackburn.

"It's kind of tough," Twins left fielder Delmon Young said. "You've got to adjust your gameplan for a different pitcher that you really weren't prepared to see that early in the game."

Young went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and committed an error. He also jammed an ankle trying to catch Jack Cust's double in the fourth inning but said the injury didn't affect him.

Blackburn (9-7) finished eight innings, despite giving up another home run to start the game.

The Yankees' Johnny Damon got him in last start, and this time, Mark Ellis drilled Blackburn's first pitch for his third career leadoff home run.

"I think I'm just going to have to be more dialed in when I come into the game," Blackburn said. "I'm not sure what the deal is."

After Young just missed catching Cust's double, Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single up the middle.

It was still 3-0 when Denard Span singled off Huston Street to start the eighth inning. A's manager Bob Geren turned to Ziegler, who opened his career with a 39-inning scoreless streak, the longest career-opening scoreless streak for any pitcher in the majors since at least 1900.

Ziegler, a submarining righthander, had his streak broken Thursday against Tampa Bay, but with his ERA at 0.23, Geren trusted him for a six-out save.

Ziegler retired Nick Punto for the first out before Mauer hit a ball off the right-center field wall. Span scored from first and Mauer dived head-first into third base for a triple.

When the throw from left fielder Eric Patterson bounced away from third baseman Jack Hannahan for an error, Mauer jogged home with the Twins' second run.

Justin Morneau then lined a single to center, and with Ziegler on the ropes, the crowd was screaming for more. But Jason Kubel grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Then, after Oakland wasted a chance to pad its lead in the ninth, Ziegler worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the inning for his third save.

"I think you can all see, he's pretty nasty," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.