Eighth-Inning Rally Powers A’s

With two out and the score tied in the eighth, all Eddie Guardado needed was a ground ball from Tony Phillips. He got it.

Only, it skipped past his glove and into center field. By the time the Minnesota Twins got out of the inning, the Oakland Athletics had scored seven runs on seven hits, all with two out, on their way to a 14-7 rout.

“It just got through,” Guardado said. “I’ve just got to field my position better. I got a ground ball like I wanted to. I guess he hit it to the wrong person.”

Phillips couldn’t believe the lucky bounce.

“I haven’t had a lot of big hits lately,” he said. “It was nice to come up with a big hit.”

The Athletics squandered a 7-2 lead before the eighth-inning outburst. They hit six consecutive singles in the inning before Matt Stairs hit a 430-foot three-run homer against Hector Carrasco.

“Offensively, we were outstanding tonight,” A’s Manager Art Howe said. “Everyone was hitting the ball well. And getting eight guys on in a row was great. That’s what it took. It took some big two-out hits.”

Buddy Groom (3-2) won despite giving up a game-tying two-run single to Todd Walker in the seventh.