Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland A’s 6-4 in the opener of a four-game series at Target Field on Thursday night. It was the A’s second consecutive loss and just the second time in the last two months. A’s Trevor Cahill has trouble pitching on the road as he went five innings and allowed eight hits and five runs. His record dropped to 5-3.

In the second inning, the A’s scored twice for an early 2-0 lead. Khris Davis led off the inning with a 396-foot blast to right center field. For Davis, it was his 39th big fly of the year. With one more homer, he will tie Jimmy Foxx as the only two A’s sluggers to have hit 40 homers in three consecutive seasons. Mark McGwire hit 40 three times (1987, 1992-96). After Davis’ homer, Matt Olson doubled. He advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

The Twins scored two in the third and three in the fourth to take a commanding 5-2 lead. The A’s plated a run in the fifth when Matt Chapman doubled. He, too, went to third on a groundout and also scored on another wild pitch to make it a 5-3 game.

The Twins added an insurance run in the eighth when Max Kepler homered off Blake Treinen. The Twins’ bullpen held the A’s scoreless until the top of the ninth. With two out and closer Trevor Hildenberger pitching, A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie homered. That was it for the A’s as they fell to the Twins 6-4.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s dropped to 76-52. The A’s are now 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Houston Astros, who were off on Thursday. The A’s lead over the Seattle Mariners for the second Wild Card slot is now four games.

Up Next: Sean Manaea (11-9, 3.70 ERA) goes for the A’s Friday night at 5:10 pm PDT, and the Twins’ Jake Odorizzi (5-7, 4.55 ERA) will try to hand the A’s another loss.