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A's target series win in Minnesota

Apr 10, 2011 - 3:06 PM (Sports Network) - Brandon McCarthy tries to pitch the Oakland Athletics to a series win over the Minnesota Twins this afternoon when the two teams conclude their three-game set from Target Field.

McCarthy failed to get the win in his first start of the year in Toronto, but lasted eight innings, as he allowed five runs (four earned) and eight hits in his first start since 2009 when he was with Texas.

"He was great," Geren said. "I thought he did a great job going eight. That's what we saw in Spring Training. I was real happy with his outing -- very nice."

McCarthy has pitched to a 1.33 ERA in six outings against the Twins. However, just one of those appearances was a start.

Minnesota, meanwhile, will rely on righty Scott Baker, who has owned the A's over the course of his career, posting a 4-0 mark to go along with a 3.62 ERA in five starts.

Baker, though, lost his season debut last Monday to the New York Yankees, as he gave up four runs and five hits - two two-run home runs - in six innings.

The right-hander hopes for a little more run support this afternoon than what the Twins provided Nick Blackburn with on Saturday when Gio Gonzalez and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout in Oakland's 1-0 win.

Gonzalez (2-0) allowed four hits and a pair of walks while fanning four over six innings. His ERA dipped to 0.69 through two starts this season. Grant Balfour yielded one hit over 1 1/3 innings and Brian Fuentes threw the final 1 2/3 innings for his second save.

"It was mostly the bullpen that did the great job," Gonzalez said. "It came down for me taking one step at a time. It was just a fun game to watch. We took advantage of a mental mistake they put out there."

Blackburn (1-1) gave up five hits and the unearned run in six innings pitched.

The Twins, who are hitting just .203 as a team on the year, managed just five hits in the loss and struck out eight times.

"The last two days have been pretty tough for us," Minnesota outfielder Denard Span said. "I'm confident we're going to get it going pretty soon."

Minnesota won six of its nine games with the A's last season.