Athletics at Minnesota Twins

Kody Clemens gave the Twins a jolt. Then he gave them a couple of sighs of relief. Then he finished the whole thing off. Clemens was in the middle of just about everything good that happened for Minnesota on Sunday. He tripled twice among three base hits, drove in a run, scored twice, and made the defensive play of the game as Minnesota held on for a more-difficult-than-it-should’ve-been 11-8 win over the Athletics at Target Field on Sunday. He even made the final putout of the game at first base, having moved there from the outfield an inning earlier. The result was another series win for a Twins team that keeps hanging around in the postseason race. Minnesota has emerged from a four-game slide right after the All-Star break to win four out of five and is back within one game of the final American League Wild Card spot. “Collectively, as a group, we don’t panic,” Clemens said. “We don’t feel any panic there. It’s just how baseball goes. You’re not going to win them all. Sometimes, the losses come together, and that’s just how the game is. It’s a long season. You just have to keep going game by game.” The Twins scored first against A’s starter Jeffrey Springs when Royce Lewis beat out a potential double-play ball, bringing Clemens to the plate with one out and a 1-0 lead. He drilled a deep drive to center, scoring Lewis and motoring all the way to third. When shortstop Alika Williams’ relay skipped away, Clemens scored, and starter Connor Prielipp had some wiggle room in his return from the injured list.