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A's rally to down Twins

Aug 1, 2011 - 3:48 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Ryan Sweeney hit a two-run double as part of a six-run third inning, and the Oakland Athletic beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Sunday to take the last two games of a three-game series.

Coco Crisp, Josh Willingham, Conor Jackson and Cliff Pennington added RBI singles during the third-inning rally, which included seven straight hits and pulled Oakland out of a 3-0 deficit.

The A's collected 11 hits -- the 16th game in a row they had at least eight to set a new franchise record. All 16 games have come after the All-Star break.

Brandon McCarthy (4-5) benefited from the outburst and earned the win despite giving up three runs in the first three innings, including two in the first. He threw six innings, giving up eight hits while striking out nine and walking zero.

"They hit some good pitches early on. I thought his stuff was pretty good the whole game," said A's manager Bob Melvin.

Twins starter Carl Pavano (6-8) took the loss after giving up seven runs on nine hits in just four innings. Jim Thome hit the 597th home run of his career in the setback, which dropped the Twins to 3-4 on a 10-game road trip.

The A's finished 5-2 on a seven-game homestand.

McCarthy scuffled in the first inning, giving up a leadoff triple to Ben Revere and four more hits after that, including three straight singles at one point. The first run scored on a groundout by No. 2 hitter Joe Mauer. Later, Danny Valencia delivered an RBI single.

Thome belted his eighth homer of the season with two outs in the third to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.

But Jemile Weeks hit a one-out double to open the floodgates for Oakland in the third, stealing third base and scoring on Crisp's hit for the first run. That was the first of four straight singles -- and, overall, seven hits in a row that culminated in Sweeney's double and Pennington's single to make it 6-3.

Hideki Matsui added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning for the final run.

"I don't even know where to start to tell you the truth," said Pavano. "I did a terrible job of getting the first guy out and making quality pitches. I definitely took the air out of the team. They gave me a three-run lead, but you could see the air was kind of deflated after I gave up those six runs."

Game Notes

Oakland traded pitcher Brad Ziegler to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday for pitcher Jordan Norberto and first baseman Brandon Allen. The A's also transferred pitcher Brett Anderson to the 60-day disabled list...Sweeney was ejected for arguing with home plate ump Dan Bellino after striking out in the seventh.