Athletics Beat the Twins in Wild Fashion

Sports Betting News - July 21st, 2009 - Written by Bruce

The Oakland Athletics looked to be in trouble when they were down by 10 runs on Monday. Amazingly they rallied all the way back and won an improbable game over the Minnesota Twins 14-13. Going into the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Twins were up 12-2 and the game seemed as if it was over already. Oakland's offense has struggled for most of the year and it seemed far fetched to think that they would be able to overcome this large of a deficit. The A's scored three runs in the 3rd inning and then scored two more in the 4th inning on a Matt Holliday two run homer. This got them back within five runs but that still seemed unlikely with the usual anemic A's lineup. The big inning came in the bottom of the 7th. Following a two run double by Orlando Cabrera, Matt Holliday struck yet again this time for a Grand Slam. The A's Jack Cust added a solo home run capping a seven run inning. Remarkably Oakland had come all the back and taken the lead at 14-13. This score would stand giving Oakland the incredible victory but not without some ninth inning drama.

Oakland's comeback was not the only story that came from this wild game. Down to the final out of the game, the Twins Michael Cuddyer tried to score from second base and was called out at home ending the game. Looking at the play it looks as if Cuddyer was actually safe which would have tied the game at 14-14. The Twins were obviously upset at the call which ended a really crazy ballgame. After the game they still felt that Cuddyer had tied the game. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "Definitely Cuddy was safe, there was no doubt about it". Cuddyer felt the same way saying, "There's no doubt in my mind I was safe". It was unfortunate for everyone to see a game filled with this much excitement end in this manner.

Last night's win put the A's at 39-52 still last place in their division. The Twins dropped to 2.5 games back of Detroit and are now at 47-46 on the season. Justin Morneau had another monster game for Minnesota as he connected on two home runs, the first of which was a grand slam in the 2nd inning. He added a three run homer in the 3rd inning giving him 7 RBI's for the game. He now leads the American League in RBI's with 78 and is tied for second in home runs with 23. Oakland is well behind in the division and there playoff chances this year are slim to none. On Monday night though their unlikely comeback gave them plenty to celebrate about.