By George Devine, Sr.
Friday, September 20, 2013
A sellout crowd which included a thousand SRO customers packed the O.co Coliseum to see fireworks. They didn’t have to wait until the end of the game, or even until the end of the fifth inning, as the A’s exploded for an 11-0 shutout of the visiting Minnesota Twins. This win, coupled with the Texas Rangers’ loss to Kansas City, reduced to 2 the magic number for Oakland to clinch the AL Western Division, which they could do against the Twins at home in either of two remaining games in the present series.
Yoenis Cespedes hit his 25th homer of 2013 to left center field in the home second. Then Derek Norris doubled to right and scored when Josh Reddick singled towards second, coming home himself when Daric Barton singled to right. In the fourth, Norris singled to center, stole second with Alberto Callaspo batting, reached third on a throwing error by catcher Chris Herrmann and scored when Callaspo singled to left.
In the fifth, Oakland tore the Twins apart. Josh Donaldson walked,and advanced as Jed Lowrie singled to center. Norris was hit by a pitch thrown by Minnesota starter Andrew Albers, moving Donaldson to third and Lowrie to second. Chris Young reached first o n a throwing error by third baseman Eduardo Escobar which allowed Donaldson, Lowrie and Norris all to score. Callaspo singled to right, plating Young, then reached third when Reddick singled to center. With Barton at bat, reliever Ryan Pressley’s wild pitch allowed Callaspo to come home. In the next inning, the home team added two more runs as Crisp walked and then came home on Josh Donaldson’s homer to left center, his 24th of the season.
Albers takes the loss (2-4; 4.2 ip, 8 h, 8 r, 3 er, 1 w, 2 k, 1 h, 1 hb) and Bartolo Colon is the winner (17-6; 6 ip, 5 h, 1 w, 8 k). The two teams meet again at 1:05 p.m. PDT on Saturday, September 21, with Jarrod Parker (11-7) facing southpaw Pedro Hernandez (3-1).
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