Willi Castro hit a pair of solo homers and the Minnesota Twins scored four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to hand the Athletics their eighth straight loss and 19th in their last 20 games, 10-3 on Tuesday night.
Trevor Larnach and Castro homered and Byron Buxton added a two-run single in the sixth.
Royce Lewis broke a long hitless streak with a bases-loaded two-run double in the seventh. It was much-needed for the young Twins third baseman who is in the midst of a terrible slump going back to the 2024 season. He took a .127/.195/.197 batting line into Tuesday night's game and he was in the midst of an 0 for 32 streak before that eighth inning double. This 0-for came not too long after Lewis snapped an 0 for 36 that dated back to last season.
"Everyone was fired up," manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game. "He's again, he's had some good swings and a few of those good swings, they haven't, well, they haven't fallen for him. And they see him putting in the work. So when you see a guy putting in the work and he's, it's one of your one of your brothers out there and one of your teammates, it really gets you going, like you're the one getting the hit."
Castro's homers gave him six this season while Larnach's was his ninth in a three-hit night. Buxton had a career-high five RBIs in a 10-4 victory over the Athletics on Monday.
López leaves with injury
Pablo López (5-3) pitched five innings and gave up two runs on four hits, three walks while striking out four before leaving with right shoulder tightness while warming before the sixth.
After the game, Baldelli said the preliminary report is López has a lat strain and he could be heading to the injured list.
"Pablo came out, we gave him a preliminary check inside. It looks like it's a lat strain. It's preliminary at this point," Baldelli explained. "I think it's safe to say it's a likely IL, but we have a lot more to learn over the next, probably couple of days, and that's where we're gonna leave it right now. He's gonna get checked out. He's gonna get all this stuff done in the training room."
López said he started to feel it in the bottom of the fifth and didn't want to make it worse.
"I went out there and like I made my three warmup pitches," he said. "Low to mid intensity and like, I feel the same thing, and in my head I'm like, well if it feels that way, if I try to make a max effort throw to get the inning started, who knows what could happen."
The A’s have lost 19 of 20 games for fourth time in franchise history, according to Sportradar, and have been outscored by 95 runs over that time.
Minnesota Twins (33-27, second in the AL Central) vs. Athletics (23-39, fifth in the AL West)
West Sacramento, California; Wednesday, 9:05 p.m. Pregame 8:30 p.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy App (in-market restrictions apply)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Zebby Matthews (0-1, 6.43 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 21 strikeouts); Athletics: Jeffrey Springs (5-4, 4.72 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Athletics take on the Minnesota Twins after losing eight games in a row.
The Athletics have a 23-39 record overall and a 9-21 record at home. The Athletics have hit 75 total home runs to rank seventh in MLB play.
Minnesota has a 33-27 record overall and a 15-19 record on the road. Twins hitters are batting a collective .243, which ranks ninth in the AL.
Wednesday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brent Rooker leads the Athletics with 13 home runs while slugging .478. Nick Kurtz is 7 for 21 with four home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games.
Byron Buxton has six doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 37 RBIs while hitting .274 for the Twins. Trevor Larnach is 15 for 43 with two doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 1-9, .257 batting average, 8.79 ERA, outscored by 48 runs
Twins: 5-5, .247 batting average, 3.79 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
INJURIES: Athletics: Miguel Andujar: 10-Day IL (oblique), Gunnar Hoglund: 15-Day IL (hip), Nick Kurtz: 10-Day IL (hip), Zack Gelof: 60-Day IL (hand), Gio Urshela: 10-Day IL (hamstring), J.T. Ginn: 15-Day IL (quadricep), T.J. McFarland: 15-Day IL (groin), Jose Leclerc: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brady Basso: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Twins: Pablo Lopez: day-to-day (lat), Luke Keaschall: 60-Day IL (forearm), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (forearm), Michael Tonkin: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.