Oakland rookie has shot at first big league win ruined by Twins rally

By BRIAN HALL
The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — A’s rookie pitcher Joey Estes had a shot of earning his first major league victory ruined by a blown save from fellow rookie Kyle Muller. Two innings later, the Twins’ Trevor Larnach ruined Oakland’s chance for a win.

Larnach, a former College Park High of Pleasant Hill star, broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI double to help Minnesota rally to beat Oakland 6-4.

Estes may not have gotten the win, but the 21-year-old right-hander impressed A’s manager Mark Kotsay after allowing just three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his second big league appearance.

“I think he got some swing and miss on the fastball in the first outing,” Kotsay said of Estes, who was acquired two years ago from Atlanta in the Matt Olson deal. “Tonight, he got swings and misses on all of his stuff, which is a great sign. This kid is a competitor. You can see the way he’s out on the mound. He’s got a presence about him.”

Twins designated hitter Ryan Jeffers, who hit a tying two-run homer in the sixth off Muller, followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Larnach and Minnesota won for the sixth time in seven games.

After Max Kepler opened the eighth with his fourth hit of the game, Larnach sent a 1-1 pitch from Dany Jiménez off the wall in right field that evaded a leaping Esteury Ruiz. Pinch-runner Andrew Stevenson scored from first. It was the 41st come-from-behind win of the season for the AL Central-champion Twins (85-73).

“That’s a pretty sweet moment for him and for us,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said of Larnach. “In that inning, we had some interesting things going on. We take Kep out of the game. Normally, we’re not going to take Kep out of the game. But when you have a chance to get him out, he’s got four hits, put in a very good baserunner to do some things and then we get to hit Larnach in a good spot for him and he took advantage.”

The loss dropped the Athletics to 48-110, and Oakland became the first team to lose 110 games since Arizona and Baltimore in 2021. Also, it is the highest number of losses for the A’s since the 1916 Philadelphia A’s set a franchise record by going 36-117.

Minnesota’s Dallas Keuchel (2-1) worked 1 2/3 innings of relief and earned the win. Griffin Jax stranded a pair of runners in the ninth and picked up his fourth save of the season.

Jiménez (0-2) allowed two runs on two hits in his inning of work for Oakland, which has lost 11 of 13 games.

Former Minnesota outfielder Brent Rooker drove in two runs, including an RBI single in the fifth, to put the Athletics ahead 3-2. Oakland had trailed 2-0 early against Twins starter Pablo López.

Rookie Edouard Julien led off the bottom of the first with his 15th homer of the season for the Twins.