Athletics fall flat in loss to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — With a two-run double by pinch-hitter Mitch Garver, the Minnesota Twins overtook Oakland starter Trevor Cahill in the fourth inning on their way to a 6-4 victory Thursday night that gave the Athletics consecutive losses for only the second time in more than two months.

The A’s dropped 1½ games behind the AL Westleading Astros. They’re four games ahead of Seattle for the second wild card.

Khris Davis moved into the major league lead with his 39th homer, a no-doubt drive to start the second against Twins starter and St. Pius X product Kohl Stewart, who was removed with two outs in the fifth.

GIANTS 3, METS 1: Madison Bumgarner hit an RBI double for the only earned run off New York ace Jacob deGrom and topped him on the mound, too, pitching San Francisco to a victory over host New York.

PHILLIES 2, NATIONALS 0: Aaron Nola outdueled Max Scherzer in a meeting of All-Star aces, and Odubel Herrera hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning as Philadelphia won at Washington.

CUBS 7, REDS 1: Cole Hamels tossed a complete game to continue his dramatic turnaround with NL Centralleading Chicago, which got home runs from Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez in a win over visiting Cincinnati.

BRAVES 5, MARLINS 0: Atlanta rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 21st homer and got hit by another Miami pitch, though tempers stayed in check this time and the Braves went on to beat the host Marlins.

RED SOX 7, INDIANS 0: David Price pitched eight shutout innings for his fifth straight win as Boston beat Cleveland to split a four-game series at Fenway Park.

ROCKIES 4, PADRES 3: Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in the ninth, and host Colorado beat San Diego in the return of 38-year-old outfielder Matt Holliday.

RAYS 4, ROYALS 3: A throwing error on Kevin Kiermaier’s bases-loaded grounder in the ninth helped host Tampa seal a four-game sweep of Kansas City.

TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 2: Matthew Boyd pitched six scoreless innings, and Ronny Rodriguez hit his first career home run to lift Detroit over visiting Chicago.