Twins Rally to Beat Oakland, Rox Split Series with Mankato

The Minnesota Twins returned from the All-Star break with a road series opener win over Oakland and the St. Cloud Rox won game two to split the series with Mankato Friday.

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- The Rox blanked the MoonDogs 1-0 in a quiet game at home Friday night. Both teams combined for just ten hits. After four scoreless innings, Brady Prewitt made it to home plate to score the lone run of the day for St. Cloud. Piercen McElyea struck out seven batters and allowed two hits and no runs in the first six innings. St. Cloud's bullpen combined for five strikeouts and two hits through the final three innings. The Rox improve to 28-16 and trail Willmar by four games. St. Cloud will open the home-and-home series against Duluth at Joe Faber Field on Saturday. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:35 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.

- The Twins beat the A's 5-4 to open the road series on Friday night. Minnesota got off to a solid start. A sacrifice fly from Byron Buxton and an RBI triple from Kyle Farmer sent Carlos Correa and Donovan Solano home in the opening inning. The A's closed the gap to 2-1 with an RBI single in the bottom of the second. Oakland took the lead 3-2 with two runs in the bottom of the third. Minnesota responded with an RBI double from Edouard Julien to tie it up 3-3. After four scoreless innings, Joey Gallo hit a two-run go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth to give Minnesota the win. Kenta Maeda struck out six batters and allowed three runs on four hits through his three innings on the mound, while the bullpen combined for four strikeouts, three hits, and one run through the remaining six innings. The Twins improve to 46-46 and maintain a slim .5-game lead over Cleveland. Minnesota will look to increase that lead when they face off against Oakland (25-68) in game two on Saturday. Pre-game coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.