Kirilloff rallies Twins to 5-4 win over A’s for a series sweep #Kirilloff #rallies #Twins #win #series #sweep

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Alex Kirilloff homered in the fifth inning and hit a three-run double in the seventh, rallying the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics and a series sweep Sunday.

Christian Vázquez also connected for the Twins, who hadn’t defeated the A’s three straight in Oakland since July 1997.

Jordan Diaz homered and drove in two runs for the last-place A’s. Losers of seven straight, Oakland (25-70) has been swept 13 times this season.

Minnesota Twins' Kyle Farmer, center, celebrates with teammates at the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Kyle Farmer had three hits including a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and the Minnesota Twins held off the Oakland Athletics 10-7. Michael A.

Minnesota Twins center fielder Michael A. Taylor watches an RBI double by Oakland Athletics' Zack Gelof during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, July 14, 2023, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Joey Gallo broke a tie with a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins snapped a three-game losing streak from before the All-Star break by beating the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Friday night.

MLB Commissioner, Robert Manfred, speaks during a press conference during a workout day ahead of the MLB London Series Match between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs at the London Stadium, London, Friday June 23, 2023. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

The Oakland Athletics have started the process of applying to Major League Baseball to move to Las Vegas.

Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida celebrates in the dugout after scoring on a double by Christian Arroyo in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Masataka Yoshida scored the tying run with good baserunning and then homered to give Boston the lead in the eighth inning to help the Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3.

The game at the Coliseum drew a crowd of 9,335, marking the 26th time in 47 home games the attendance has been below 10,000.

Minnesota trailed most of the game and was down 3-2 entering the seventh following a shaky outing from starter Joe Ryan.

Max Kepler’s one-out single off JP Sears started the rally and extended his on-base streak at the Coliseum to 14 games dating to July 2017. After reliever Lucas Erceg (2-1) walked Vázquez, pinch-hitter Edouard Julien hit a sharp grounder to third base that Aledmys Díaz fielded but dropped while transferring the ball to his throwing hand.

Kirilloff then drilled a fastball from Erceg down the left-field line. The ball rolled to the outfield fence as the bases cleared, giving Minnesota its first lead.

That spoiled a mostly strong outing from Sears. Winless since June 11, the left-hander had seven strikeouts, didn’t walk anyone, and allowed four hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Jorge López (3-2) retired four batters for the win. Jhoan Duran earned his 15th save, getting Tony Kemp to line out to center field for the final out with the potential tying run at second base.

Minnesota’s defense also came up big with two fantastic plays by left fielder Willi Castro. He made a leaping catch at the fence in the second to rob Aledmys Díaz of extra bases, one batter after Jordan Diaz hit his sixth home run. In the fourth, Castro made a sliding grab of Jordan Diaz’s sinking liner in left-center to hold him to a sacrifice fly.

Vázquez had two hits to break out of an extended slump at the plate. His home run off Sears in the fifth was his second of the season and first since June 19. Two batters later, Kirilloff connected off Sears for his fifth home run.

Ryan had seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings but allowed five hits and three runs.

BRINGING HEAT

Duran threw 18 pitches in the ninth, 10 of which clocked 100 mph or faster.

GLOVE IT

Twins second baseman Donovan Solano made a strong play to end the third when he raced in to get Kemp’s slow grounder and then – using his glove hand – flipped the ball to first to barely get the A’s leadoff hitter.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: SS Jorge Polanco (left hamstring strain) began what is expected to be a lengthy rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul. Polanco has been out since May 20.

Athletics: All-Star OF Brent Rooker was held out of the lineup due to illness.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Sonny Gray (4-3, 2.89 ERA) faces the Mariners in Seattle, six days after pitching there in the All-Star Game. Gray has five wins in 14 career starts against the Mariners.

Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (1-1, 4.86) pitches Monday against the Red Sox. Blackburn was scratched from his previously scheduled start against Boston on July 8 because of illness.