SANTANA SOLVES A'S

MINNESOTA AT OAKLAND
Twins........... 0 0 0  3 0 1  0 0 0  -  4  9  0
Athletics....... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 1  -  2  7  0
Win:Santana(3-3) Loss:Lidle(5-3) Save:Romero(1st)
Homeruns- C.Koskie(10th), M.Tejada(13th)

OAKLAND -- Minnesota Twins' starter Johan Santana clinched the series for the Twins today, beating Oakland 5-3 in a strong outing.  The dominant lefty allowed just one earned run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings pitched.  He struckout 8.

Minnesota achieved the early lead.  They scored 3 in the 3rd behind back-to-back doubles.  Oakland stater Cory Lidle pitched well enough, but he continued the trend of Oakland starters allowing big home runs at home.  Corey Koskie took him deep.

Unfortunately, Anaheim won their game against Baltimore, pushing their division lead back to 7 games.  Oakland will now host a four-game series against Kansas City (32-49).  They must perform well heading into the All-Star Break.

"I tip my hat to Santana," Maty McNeil said.  "We just didn't have a shot."