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Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Josh Willinghams upper-deck two-run blast in the eighth inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game set. Roman Josi Jersey . Willingham also hit a solo home run as did Oswaldo Arcia for the Twins, who have won their past two. Liam Hendriks pitched 5 1/3 innings in the start as he gave up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Anthony Swarzak (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Alberto Callaspo smacked a two-run home run while Yoenis Cespedes had an RBI and a run scored for the Athletics, who are two games up on the Rangers in the AL West. Jarrod Parker was in line for the win as he gave up just two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings. He hasnt lost a game since May 22 and is 9-0 over his last 19 starts. In the eighth with Sean Doolittle on the mound, Arcia singled to start and Ryan Doumit struck out. Ryan Cook (6-4) then took the mound and Willingham blasted a shot into the upper-deck seats in left for his 14th home run of the season. Glen Perkins pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 34th save of the year. Willingham homered with one out in the second to get the scoring started, while Callaspo went deep with Cespedes on board in the fifth for a 2-1 lead. Cespedes gave the As a 3-1 advantage in the sixths with an RBI single, but Arcia made it a one-run game once again with his leadoff homer in the sixth. Game Notes Oakland had a three-game winning streak snapped ... Each team has won five times in the season series ... Minnesota was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. P.K Subban Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Dante Fabbro Predators Jersey . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. http://www.nhlpredatorshockeystore.com/ . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. SPARTA, Ky. -- The questions during NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying Friday were how many drivers would raise Kentucky Speedways record and by how much. Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided the answer of the eight that broke it, clocking 183.636 mph to wrest the mark from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and the pole for Saturday nights race. Earnhardts speed was nearly 2 mph faster than Johnsons 181.818 mph last June, which he needed to keep Johnson from keeping the record. Minutes before, Johnson had a lap at 183.144 mph to hold off Ryan Newman (182.254). Earnhardt set the standard in the No. 88 Chevy soon after and survived several furious attempts to unseat him before coming away with his 12th career pole and first at Kentucky. Carl Edwards (183.306 mph) eventually grabbed the outside front in the No. 99 Ford. Johnson settled for third with Kyle Busch (182.593) fourth in a Toyota. Marcos Ambrose (182.587) qualified fifth in a Ford and will start alongside Denny Hamlin, whose No. 11 Toyota ran 182.340 mph. The final two over 182 mph were Newman and defending race winner and Cup champion Brad Keselowski (182.192). "I thought we had a good car in practice," Earnhardt said, "and we got some cloud cover. That gave us an opportunity to run a good lap." Drivers felt as if a track record was possible with NASCARs new Gen 6 car, even on Kentuckys bumpy surfacee. Craig Smith Jersey. Anticipation grew even more with cooler-than-expected temperatures and intermittent clouds, and several drivers gave chase to Johnsons mark early in the session. Johnson, the series points leader, promptly raised the bar higher with a speed that seemed to put the pole and the record out of reach even with two-thirds of qualifying remaining. Newman gave chase and briefly had the second spot before settling for a solid berth in the field. "I feel good," said Johnson, who checked his No. 48 Chevy for damage after hitting one of the trucks bumps and going airborne. "I felt (turns) one and two went really well. (Turns) three and four, I thought maybe I could have been a little faster through there." Earnhardt, sixth after the final practice, soon grabbed his up-front view and the record as all the elements fell into place for his first pole since September at Richmond. "The cloud cover at least gave us a bit of speed," said Earnhardt, who joked that getting a haircut between practice and qualifying might have made him more aerodynamic as well. "Of course, cooler track temps gives the car more grip and we definitely had the better situation of anyone in practice with that scenario. "There were some clouds in the qualifying session, but not quite the extent that we had. I did think the lap was really good." Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '