OAKLAND — The celebration will have to wait. The A's failed to clinch a playoff spot at home, falling to the Minnesota Twins 5-1 Sunday afternoon.
Jake Cave started the scoring early for Minnesota with a two-run home run in the first inning off Trevor Cahill. Matt Olson responded with a solo homer in the second to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Twins added three more runs in the fourth to provide some insurance.
Kyle Gibson quieted the A's bats, scattering seven hits in 7 1/3 innings of work. He earned the win, improving to 9-13 on the season. Cahill took the loss and fell to 6-4.
The A's magic number remains at one due to Tampa Bay's 5-2 win at Toronto. Oakland remains 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees, who lost 6-3 to Baltimore. The A's will try again to clinch a postseason berth Monday night at Seattle, and can clinch sooner if the New York Yankees beat the Rays in Tampa.
Here's what else you need to know from Sunday's loss ...
--- Cahill struggled in his first start since September 9, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits in just 3 1/3 innings. He missed the last two weeks with an upper back injury. Cahill has now allowed three runs or more in his last five starts and has an ERA of 7.45 during that stretch. His season ERA climbed to 3.91.
--- The A's bullpen covered 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Liam Hendriks pitched his eighth and ninth consecutive scoreless innings. During that stretch, he has allowed five hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Meanwhile, J.B. Wendelken pitched a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to 0.71 in 12 2/3 innings.
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--- Olson provided the A's only offense with his 28th home run of the season. That's a career high and leads AL first basemen. Olson also notched a pair of singles, finishing the game 3-for-4. As a team, Oakland went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
--- Twins third baseman Ehire Adrianza did his best Matt Chapman impression, making three spectacular defensive plays. In the second inning, with a runner on second and one out, Adrianza bare-handed a slow roller by Pinder and threw him out by a step. In the fourth, he made a sprawling stop on a hard-hit ball by Semien, robbing him of a base hit. Adrianza's best play of all came in the fifth inning, with two on and one out, when he snagged a hot shot by Chapman and turned a potential extra-base hit into an inning-ending double play.
