"Are the Twins making their move in the American League Central, or just treading water?

Minnesota beat the Oakland A's 9-5 Friday night in front of 25,656 at McAfee Coliseum to keep pace with Detroit in the Central Division, but they'll need to follow it with many more if they're going to win their third straight division crown. They haven't won, or lost, more than two straight since July 3-5.

Trevor Plouffe was 2 for 6 with three runs scored and two RBIs, and Jason Kubel added a two-run double as the Twins improved to 3-2 on this 10-game road trip against the AL West. Michael Cuddyer's three-run homer off Michael Wuertz put it away in the eighth.

Josh Willingham drove in all five runs for Oakland with a pair of homers, the second a three-run blast off lefty Jose Mijares in the eighth inning to cut Minnesota's lead to 9-5.

The Twins put starter Francisco Liriano (7-8) up right away, and he needed the cushion. After lasting just 2-1/3 innings in his previous start, the left-hander struggled to throw strikes and pitched out of jams in all but two innings. Still, he had enough to tame the A's, who had just scored 34 runs to take three of four games at Tampa Bay.

Liriano surrendered two earned runs on six hits and two walks for his first victory since July 14 against Kansas City. He struck out four."