Game #40: A’s hit 4 homers in win over Twins

The Oakland A’s took aim at Target Field on Friday and hit a bullseye.

Four A’s hitters homered in a comfortable 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins, in the opener of a weekend series. It’s the fourth time in as many tries that the A’s have beat the Twins this year.

*** Click here to revisit today’s Game Thread! ***

All of the runs for both clubs were scored via dingers. Oakland got started in the 3rd inning, when Ramon Laureano went deep.

In the 5th, Sean Murphy got all of one, with a runner on base courtesy of a leadoff walk.

In the 6th, it was a two-out walk, followed by a jack from Stephen Piscotty.

In the 8th, Mark Canha came in to pinch-hit, and he unleashed.

That was pretty much the game. The A’s scattered three other hits and two other walks, but the story was the homers. Their exit velocities were 103.8 mph (Laureano), 107.3 mph (Murphy), 105.7 mph (Piscotty), and 94.4 mph (Canha), with Piscotty leading the way at 412 feet. Murphy’s went 408 and he also added another flyout of the same distance and nearly the same monstrous exit velo.

One more lineup note: Chad Pinder came off the bench as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk. He was activated from the injured list today after recovering from a sprained left knee.

Clear skies

The A’s pitching staff had to contend with former Oakland star Josh Donaldson, the Bringer of Rain, but they held strong.

Starter Frankie Montas cruised for six innings, with his only mistake coming on a solo homer by Donaldson. On another occasion, Donaldson came up with a rally brewing and grounded into a double play.

• Montas: 6 ip, 1 run, 4 Ks, 1 BB, 1 HR, 4 hits, 94 pitches, 87.5 mph EV

The Twins only hit a couple balls hard against Montas, who spun his fifth quality start in eight appearances so far this year.

The bullpen was similarly effective. Burch Smith allowed a couple hits but worked around them, Yusmeiro Petit was perfect, and Lou Trivino issued a walk but otherwise wrapped up the 9th.

Oakland’s staff has now allowed just 20 runs total over their last seven games, and eight of them came in one loss last night.

Keep it rolling

The A’s hit for a bunch of power tonight and pitched well, and now they’ve won three outta four on their current road trip. And they haven’t even added Pinder back to the starting lineup yet. Keep riding that wave!