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Friday, May 19 10:05pm ET
Radke stymies Athletics with three-hitter | |||||
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Brad Radke still isn't getting much run support, not that it mattered Friday night. Radke pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game of the season and Ron Coomer doubled home the go-ahead run to lead the Minnesota Twins over the Oakland Athletics 3-2. "I felt more relaxed than I usually do," said Radke, who has been getting an average of 2.7 runs per start. "I did have good rhythm. I kept the ball down and I got away with a few pitches. I made good pitches when I needed to. The win is great and the compete game is icing on the cake." Jacque Jones homered leading off the game and rookie Matt LeCroy added a game-tying RBI double for the Twins, who sent the A's to their season-high fourth straight loss. It was also Oakland's major league-high 11th one-run loss of the season. "We played a solid game," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "It was a real pitcher's duel, one you don't see every day in this league. You've got to give Radke credit. He pitched a heck of a game against us. They had a couple of two-out hits that were the difference." Howe admitted the close losses are taking a toll. "It's frustrating. It's like a broken record, so close yet so far," Howe said. "We have to find a way to win these kinds of games. We have to keep battling and get it going again." Radke (3-4), who struck out five and walked three, won for the first time since April 23, when he had a 5-4 decision over Texas. He broke a string of two losses and two no decisions over the last month in matching his career-low for hits in a game. He has two other three-hitters, the last on June 18, 1996 at New York. Radke did not allow a hit over the last five innings following Ben Grieve's fourth inning single, retiring his final 15 batters. "He was mixing his fastball on both sides of the plate and changing speeds," LeCroy said. "He hasn't had luck with us scoring runs for him so I was glad to see him get the win. You don't need too many runs when he's out there pitching. I thought we had some good at bats and we just have to keep getting the key hits." It was his first complete game since last Sept. 5 at Tampa Bay and the 19th of his career. "He was on today," Oakland's Eric Chavez said. "The balls we hit hard we seemed to hit right at them. We just couldn't find any holes." Gil Heredia (5-3) saw his four-game winning streak snapped after allowing three runs and eight hits in eight innings. He struck out two and walked five, two of whom scored. "You have to tip your hat to Radke. He was the star of the game," Heredia said. "It was just one of those games where you're battling for runs and sometimes, you're going to lose games like this." With the score tied at 2-all, Denny Hocking drew a one-out walk in the fifth and, after Matt Lawton grounded out and Heredia's wild pitch moved Hocking to third, Coomer doubled to put the Twins up by a run. Jones sent Heredia's first pitch into the left-field seats. But Ramon Hernandez singled with one out in the third, Oakland's first hit, and Terrence Long followed with a homer. Minnesota evened the score when Corey Koskie led off the fourth with a walk and scored on LeCroy's two-out double. Game notesBrian Buchanan, recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City on Wednesday, singled off Heredia's glove in the fifth for his first major league hit. He also robbed Miguel Tejada of a double with a leaping catch against the right field wall in the seventh. ... Oakland left-handed reliever Mike Magnante is day to day after spraining his left ankle while delivering a pitch Thursday night. ... The A's fell to 9-15 at home, the second-worst in the league behind Tampa Bay (5-10). ... The only other complete game by a Twins pitcher was by Joe Mays on May 7 against Detroit. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Minnesota Clubhouse Oakland Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 3 Detroit 0
Minnesota 3
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