Oakland Athletics (23-16, first in the AL West) vs. Minnesota Twins (12-23, fifth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Frankie Montas (4-2, 5.50 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 35 strikeouts) Twins: Matt Shoemaker (2-3, 6.43 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 19 strikeouts)
LINE: Twins -104, Athletics -112; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota enters the matchup as losers of their last four games.
The Twins are 6-11 on their home turf. Minnesota has hit 47 home runs this season, seventh in the majors. Byron Buxton leads the club with nine, averaging one every 10.2 at-bats.
The Athletics are 10-5 on the road. Oakland has hit 47 home runs this season, seventh in the American League. Matt Olson leads them with eight, averaging one every 14.9 at-bats.
The Athletics won the last meeting 13-12. Deolis Guerra earned his first victory and Olson went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs for Oakland. Alex Colome registered his second loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nelson Cruz ranks second on the Twins with 12 extra base hits and is batting .295.
Jed Lowrie leads the Athletics with 35 hits and has 23 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 3-7, .254 batting average, 5.32 ERA, outscored by nine runs
Athletics: 6-4, .224 batting average, 4.05 ERA, outscored by seven runs
INJURIES: Twins: Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Byron Buxton: (hip), Andrelton Simmons: (ankle), Alex Kirilloff: (right wrist).
Athletics: J.B. Wendelken: (left oblique), Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), A.J. Puk: (left biceps), Jesus Luzardo: (left hand), Mike Fiers: (right elbow), Chad Pinder: (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
