The Oakland Athletics spoiled the Twins home opener on Monday afternoon at Target Field. The A’s beat the Twins 8-3.
It was a rough home opener for Twins starter Kevin Correia. He gave up six runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. Samuel Deduno threw over three innings of relief. He struck out four and walked one, while giving up two runs. One of the runs scored on a balk in the seventh inning.
Despite a major investment to improve the Twins starting pitching, through seven games they have just one quality start.
A’s starter Scott Kazmir shook off a shaky start to go six strong innings to pick up the win. The lefty struck out five and allowed three early runs.
Josh Donaldson was 2-5 for Oakland. He doubled and singled and scored twice. Alberto Callaspo also had a big day. He 2-4 with an RBI with a double. Derek Norris was 2-4 with a home run for Oakland.
The Twins offense was rather quiet after scoring a pair of runs in the third inning. Minnesota finished with just six hits and the Twins top of the order Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer were a combined 0-7 with three strikeouts.
Aaron Hicks doubled and drove in one of the three Twins runs. Jason Kubel and Kurt Suzuki drove in the other two.
The last time the Twins won a home opener was in 2011. The game wasn’t a sellout, but more than 35,000 attended the game. At least, the weather for the home opener at Target Field was nearly perfect.
https://twitter.com/joe_schmit/status/453259651979550720
It’s a big improvement over what the stadium looked like on Friday after a snow storm.
What a difference a couple days makes. Green grass, short sleeves and cold beer this afternoon! @PerkatPlay live now pic.twitter.com/2JTiQnMwwG
— Belinda Jensen (@BelindaKARE11) April 7, 2014
- The Twins have completed a trade with the New York Yankees for shortstop Eduardo Nunez. Minnesota sent lefthander Miguel Sulbaran to the Yankees in exchange for Nunez. Nunez will be assigned to Class Triple A Rochester and count on the Twins 40-man roster.
Nunez hit .267, 10 HR's and 76 RBI's in 270 games with the Yankees
— Ryan Rablin (@RyanRablinFox9) April 7, 2014
