MINNEAPOLIS - Justin Morneau hit his second homer in as many nights and Torii Hunter had two hits and a home run to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.
Tony Batista added three hits and an RBI for the Twins, who have bounced out of an offensive funk that led to a 1-5 start with two big nights in a row at home. Carlos Silva (1-1) worked seven innings to get the win.
The Twins started their first homestand with a .225 batting average and averaged 2.8 runs in their five losses. But in two victories over the Athletics, they have scored 13 runs on 23 hits.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth inning for his second save.
Nick Swisher went 3-for-4 with two home runs and tied a career high with four RBIs for the A's, who are now guaranteed of losing their first series of the season after a 7-6 loss in the opener on Tuesday night.
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One night after squandering a 4-0 lead, the A's spotted starter Esteban Loaiza (0-2) three runs on Wednesday night, but he couldn't hold it.
Swisher hit a two-run double off the baggie in right in the second inning and scored on a single up the middle from Adam Melhuse to give Oakland a 3-0 lead.
Batista doubled home Hunter in the bottom of the inning before the Twins broke through in the third.
After Joe Mauer and Hunter walked, Morneau just missed a homer when he smoked an 0-1 pitch foul down the first-base line. He worked the count to 2-2, then knocked an offspeed pitch from Loaiza off the press box in right center for a 4-3 lead.
Swisher tied it in the fourth with a leadoff homer, which just barely reached the seats in left. He hit another solo shot in the sixth for his third career multihomer game to cut Minnesota's lead to 6-5.
Hunter came into the game hitting .214 on the season, but he had to be happy to see Loaiza. Hunter had 19 hits in his previous 42 at-bats (.452) against Loaiza, and went 2-for-4 with a walk on Wednesday night.
