Mauer and Willingham power Twins to win over A's

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OAKLAND, Calf. -- Minnesota's Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham were each 3-for-5 with two RBIs to power the Twins in a 7-2 win over the Athletics last night in Oakland.

Darin Mastroianni added two RBI to go with two runs scored in a 2-for-3 effort as Minnesota snapped a five-game slide. Brian Duensing struck out seven and gave up two runs, one of which was unearned, over six innings to pick up the win. Brandon McCarthy was rocked for six runs in three-and-a-third innings of duty to take the loss for Oakland.

Josh Reddick and Josh Donaldson each drove in a run for the A's, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. The same two teams play tonight at 9 p.m.

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Prior to last night's game, the Twins sent pitcher Nick Blackburn back to Class AAA Rochester. Blackburn was outrighted to the minor league team, meaning he is no longer on the Twins' 40-man roster. Minnesota plans to make a move later today to add a player to the Major League Roster to take Blackburn's spot. Blackburn was 4-9 with the Twins, registering a 7.39 earned run average in 98-innings pitches. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was also outrighted, but will remain on the Rochester roster, but off of the 40-man Twins roster.

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The Athletics have acquired shortstop Stephen Drew from the Diamondbacks for minor leaguer Sean Jamieson. Drew has hit just .193 in 40 games this season for the D'Backs with two homers and 12 RBI. The 23-year-old Jamieson has batted .234 with 10 homers and 49 RBI for Single-A Burlington this year. He was named a Midwest League All-Star this season.

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The Athletics reinstated pitcher Brett Anderson from the 60-day disabled list on Monday. Anderson will make his first big league start in over a year tonight as the A's take on the Twins. The 24-year-old southpaw has been out since having Tommy John surgery on July 14th, 2011. The A's optioned pitcher Dan Straily to Triple-A Sacramento and designated catcher Anthony Recker for assignment.

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Orioles manager Buck Showalter announced prior to yesterday's game in Texas that designated hitter Jim Thome, a former Twin, will start rehab tomorrow in Sarasota. The 41-year-old Thome hasn't played since July 27th due to a herniated disk in his neck. It was initially believed he'd need to rest it for at least 30 days but he is ahead of schedule and hopes to return on a rehab assignment with an upper affiliate later this month. Thome hit .261 with two homers in 18 games for the O's after being acquired in a trade with Philadelphia on June 30th.

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