One of the maddening aspects of the Twins offense this season is their inability to capitalize with the bases loaded.
Alex Kirilloff, on Sunday, showed what is supposed to happen more often. Kirilloff lined a bases-clearing, three-run double down the left field line to lift the Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum to complete a three-game weekend sweep.
It was the first time the Twins swept the A's in Oakland since 1997.
The Twins, who entered with a major league-worst .167 batting average and .440 OPS when batting with the bases loaded, rallied from a three-run deficit with most of their offense coming from the bottom of the batting order.
Max Kepler hit an opposite-field single to knock lefthanded starting pitcher J.P. Sears out of the game with one out in the seventh inning. Christian Vázquez drew a walk against reliever Lucas Erceg, and pinch hitter Edouard Julien, who has nine hits in his past 17 at-bats, reached on a hard-hit infield single to load the bases.
Trailing by a run, Kirilloff hit a 97 mile-per-hour fastball to the left-field corner, and third-base coach Tommy Watkins waved all the runners home.
Maybe things are evolving after the All-Star break, or maybe it's just a sign they are facing A's pitching.
The bottom four spots in the Twins lineup were responsible for all five runs and six hits. Vázquez produced the first two hits against Sears, ending the shutout with a solo homer in the fifth inning. Two batters after Vázquez bashed his second home run of the season, Kirilloff lifted a fastball on the outside corner over the left field wall for a solo homer.
It was the first time Kirilloff produced four RBI in a game since he did it as a rookie on May 2, 2021.
The Twins needed some relievers to step up after Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Jovani Moran pitched in the previous two games. Jorge López retired three of the five batters he faced, inheriting two of Ryan's runners in the sixth inning and inducing a line-drive double play on his first pitch. One run scored against López when Kepler and Kirilloff misplayed a two-out blooper and the ball dropped between the right fielder and first baseman.
Emilio Pagán recorded four outs, and Duran, pitching in three consecutive days for the first time in his career, pitched around a one-out double in a scoreless ninth inning. Duran earned the save in all three wins over the A's.
Joe Ryan, who grew up about 30 miles north of Oakland, made his first career start in the Bay Area with a loud contingent of family and friends in the crowd.
Jordan Diaz punished Ryan for leaving a two-out, two-strike splitter over the heart of the plate with a solo homer to left field. Ryan has allowed 11 homers in his last six starts after giving up only six homers across his first 13 starts.
Left fielder Willi Castro prevented the second inning from snowballing further. Aledmys Díaz hit the next pitch to the left field wall, but Castro was in position to make a leaping catch with his glove against the fence.
Oakland loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning via two singles and a walk. Castro, again, helped limit the damage when he made a sliding catch on Jordan Diaz's sinking line drive that amounted to a sacrifice fly. Castro's catch loomed larger when Aledmys Díaz followed with an RBI double.
Ryan wasn't at his sharpest, yielding five hits and three walks, but he struck out seven in 5⅓ innings. The bullpen did the rest as they earned their first series sweep in a road series since beginning the season at Kansas City.
