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Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 4, Oakland 2
When: 1:10 PM ET, Saturday, September 18, 2010
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 52°
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Lazaro Diaz, 2B - Wally Bell, 3B - John Hirschbeck
Attendance: 40847
Danny Valencia's three-run homer broke a tie in the sixth inning in leading the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon.

The win reduced Minnesota's magic number to clinch its second straight American League Central title to six.

Starting pitchers Kevin Slowey and Dallas Braden were locked in a 1-1 tie when Joe Mauer led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and Michael Cuddyer followed with a single. After Delmon Young flied out, Valencia homered to left on a 3-1 pitch.

Slowey (13-6) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, including Landon Powell's solo homer in the second. He struck out eight and walked one.

Braden (9-13) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Matt Capps pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances for the Twins and 40th overall for the season.

Akinori Iwamura had an RBI double in the seventh for Oakland.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Oakland   Minnesota
Dallas Braden Player Kevin Slowey
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 6.2
2 Strikeouts 8
8 Hits 5
6.00 ERA 2.70
Hitting
Oakland   Minnesota
Landon Powell Player Danny Valencia
2 Hits 2
1 RBI 3
1 HR 1
6 TB 5
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Oakland 5 1 10 .161 8 8 2 2 0 1
Minnesota 8 1 12 .258 22 6 4 5 0 1