A's 9, Twins 4: Duensing Blown Out Early as Oakland Sweeps Minnesota at Target Field

A two-run first from the Athletics put the Twins in a hole before they even had a chance to hit, but the four-run fourth might as well have been the nail in the coffin. Oakland launched a trio of home runs in the frame as Jonny Gomes launched his tenth one batter before Yeonis Cespedes and Chris Carter went back-to-back.

Casey Fien did a great job picking up Duensing with three innings of scoreless work. The Twins couldn't scratch into their 6-2 deficit though, and a wild sixth inning saw the A's put up another crooked number.

This was not a good weekend of baseball. I think we're all quite content to leave it at that. But here are a few silver linings for us to acknowledge.

Ryan Doumit

Doumit hit his 18th double in a two-hit afternoon. Here are his month-by-month triple slashes.

This has turned into one of the better off-season acquisitions for the Twins in the last few years. Obviously Jim Thome and Josh Willingham top it, but it's still pretty damned good.

Casey Fien

This spring we weren't shy about our thoughts regarding Fien and his potential to make the Twins' roster. I went so far as to say I'd give him one of the last two bullpen spots; the community seems to have had some belief in him even if it wasn't as much as fellow non-roster invitee Jared Burton.

Three appearances into his first week with the Twins and he's delivered so far, recording two strikeouts and allowing just two hits in 4.1 innings of work. Let's hope can can follow in Burton's footsteps.