Kyle Farmer spoiled Freddy Tarnok's season debut with a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning and the visiting Minnesota Twins, after blowing a 6-0 lead, held on to beat the Oakland Athletics 10-7 on Saturday afternoon.
Michael A. Taylor also homered for the Twins, who went into the All-Star break on a three-game losing streak but have emerged from it with back-to-back narrow victories over the A's.
After his teammates had scored in four consecutive innings to draw even at 7-7, Tarnok (0-1) retired the first two Twins in the seventh before Farmer launched his fifth homer of the season to left field. Tarnok was promoted from Triple-A on Friday.
Minnesota tacked on single runs in the eighth, when Byron Buxton worked Tarnok for a 10-pitch, bases-loaded walk, and ninth, when Willi Castro tripled and raced home on a squeeze bunt by Ryan Jeffers.
Tyler Soderstrom, who went hitless in his major league debut Friday, led off the last of the eighth with his second single. When Nick Allen reached on a two-out bunt single, Oakland, down 9-7, had the potential tying runs on base.
But Oliver Ortega got All-Star Brent Rooker to fly out to right field to end the threat, before Jhoan Duran worked a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two, for his 14th save.
Reliever Jovani Moran (2-2) was credited with the win.
Tarnok, who was charged with two runs in 2 2/3 innings, took the loss in just his second big-league appearance.
The Twins had used two-run uprisings in each of the first three innings to take their 6-0 lead. Farmer had a two-run double in the first, Carlos Correa a two-run single in the second and Taylor his two-run homer, his 11th of the season, in the third.
Home runs by Ryan Noda, a solo shot, and Seth Brown, a two-run shot, highlighted Oakland's rally against Twins starter Pablo Lopez, who was charged with seven runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
A sacrifice fly by Allen in the sixth, the final batter Lopez faced, created the 7-7 tie.
Farmer finished with three hits and three RBIs for the Twins. Jeffers scored three times and Castro twice, while Taylor had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Correa three hits and two RBIs.
Allen joined Soderstrom with two hits for the A's, who lost their sixth straight. Allen also scored twice, while he and Brown had two RBIs apiece.
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