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MINNEAPOLIS -- Its been a rough go of it for Ervin Santana in his first season-and-a-half with Minnesota.On Wednesday, he finally resembled the pitcher the Twins thought they were getting when they signed him to a $55 million, four-year deal.Santana struck out eight and walked none in a two-hitter that led the Twins over the Oakland Athletics 4-0.Santana (3-7) needed just 100 pitches for his eighth shutout and 15th complete game, helping the Twins take two of three from the As. Joe Mauer had three hits and an RBI.Every time you do it with a new team, its even better, said Santana, who was suspended for 80 games last year after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. It builds more confidence for me and for the team.Sonny Gray (3-8) gave up one run, six hits and four walks in six innings, losing his seventh straight decision, the longest active skid in the American League. Billy Butlers two-out double in the fifth and Stephen Vogts leadoff single in the eighth were Oaklands lone hits.I havent had many decisions in a year and a half of letting a guy go out there to try get a shutout, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. But he was dominant.Minnesota got off to a historically bad start and quickly got buried in the AL Central. But the Twins have won four of their last five games and each of their last three series at home.The bleary-eyed clubs were back at it on Wednesday less than 12 hours after finishing a rain-delayed game that started at 9:52 p.m.I know it was a long night last night, Santana said. I just came today and tried to put zeros on the board.Both teams appeared to be swinging heavy bats, and Minnesota stranded 12, going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.Santana frustrated Oaklands hitters all afternoon. Josh Reddick slammed his bat in anger after popping out to the catcher in the fourth inning and Khris Davis did the same after a strikeout in the seventh.We had some good at-bats off him at times and we had some non-competitive at-bats, Vogt said. When a pitcher has his stuff and you dont have consistent at-bats against him its going to be hard to win. He was very, very good today.As sharp as Santana was, he didnt have much cushion for most of the afternoon because the Twins kept leaving runners on base against Gray. They left nine on in the first six innings before finally scratching two more runs across.Danny Santana had three hits, including a double, a triple and a run scored for Minnesota.SANTANAS GEMIt was Santanas first complete game since a one-hitter for the Angels against Arizona on June 16, 2012. It was the first shutout by a Twins pitcher since Andrew Albers in 2013.SPEEDY NUNEZTwins All-Star Eduardo Nunez stole his 20th base this season in the third inning. That made him the first Twins player to swipe at least 20 bases before the All-Star break since Carlos Gomez had 21 in 2008.As BULLPENOaklands bullpen entered with a 5.63 ERA in its 22 games. Opponents were hitting .312 off of As relievers, and they had another rough day on Wednesday.Marc Rzepczynski was charged with two runs on one hit and didnt record an out in the seventh inning. And John Axford didnt give him any help when he walked Max Kepler with the bases loaded and gave up a sacrifice fly to Eddie Rosario to give Santana some breathing room.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: RHP Fernando Rodriguez was played on the disabled list after an MRI revealed a strained rotator cuff. Manager Bob Melvin said there is no timetable for a return, but he would not need surgery.Twins: SS Eduardo Escobar was available after missing the last two games with a strained hamstring.UP NEXTAthletics: LHP Rich Hill (8-3, 2.31) will start the series opener at Houston on Thursday.Twins: Minnesota opens a four-game series in Texas on Thursday, sending RHP Tyler Duffey (4-6, 4.62) to the mound against RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1, 9.53). Mikal Bridges Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. George King Jersey . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. http://www.officialsunsfanstore.com/richaun-holmes-suns-jersey/ . 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PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State coach Mike Leach is famous for his Air Raid passing offenses.Turns out the Cougars have a ground game too.Washington State rushed for 280 yards and six touchdowns to beat Oregon 51-33 on Saturday, sending the Ducks to their third consecutive loss.Jamal Morrow, Gerard Wicks and James Williams each ran for two touchdowns for Washington State (2-2, 1-0 Pac-12), which was coming off a bye week. Washington State defeated Oregon in double overtime last year, a game that sparked the Cougars run to a 9-4 record.I dont think anybody expected six touchdowns out of us, Morrow said. Its great.I dont think tonight was our full potential, Wicks said. Youll see a way better running team.Leach said the passing of Luke Falk, who threw for 371 yards, helped set up the ground attack.The biggest thing was the passing was real effective, Leach said. We got them off balance with the pass.Oregon (2-3, 0-2) has lost three straight games and held a team meeting earlier in the week to seek a turnaround.Royce Freeman, who missed the last game with a leg injury, ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns for Oregon.We didnt have any big plays of any kind tonight, said Oregon coach Mark Helfrich. Both sides put a ton of pressure on each other at the wrong times; the offense was not answering, the defense was not answering.Sticking together is paramount, and we will, Helfrich said.Washington State piled up 651 yards of total offense, to 416 total yards for Oregon.Falk completed 36 of 48 passes with one touchdown.Almost every play they called was a pass and they checked to a run, Helfrich said. That balance was very difficult for us to stop.Oregons Dakota Prukop completed 14 of 22 passes for 132 yards.Washington State came in averaging 121 rushing yards per game.Washington State opened the scoring with Falk hitting Gabe Marks on a 7-yard touchdown pass.Oregon replied with an 11-yard touchdown run by Freeman to tie the score at 7-7.Washington State marched 75 yards on its next drive, with Wicks running four yards for the touchdown and a 14-7 lead.Freeman bulled over from the 1 to tie the score at 114-14 midway through the second quarter.ddddddddddddWashington State went 80 yards in seven plays on its next series, including a 40-yard bomb from Falk to Kyle Sweet. Morrow ran the final 10 yards for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead.Oregon went three-and-out and Washington State got the ball near midfield. Wicks scored again, this time on a 2-yard run, for a 28-14 lead at halftime.Washington State opened the second half by marching to the Oregon 5, but Erik Powells 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked. He has missed all four of his field goal attempts this season.Oregon immediately gave the ball back, when Dwayne Stanford fumbled after a reception and WSUs Robert Taylor recovered. He returned the ball to the Oregon 26. But Washington State turned the ball over on downs when Falks pass to Sweet in the end zone fell incomplete.Prukop was then sacked in the end zone by Hercules Mataafa for a safety and WSU led 30-14.After a WSU punt, Freeman ran 75 yards for his third touchdown to cut Oregons deficit to 30-20 late in the third. Oregons conversion pass failed.The Cougars replied with a 75-yard drive that ended with Morrows 14-yard touchdown run for a 37-20 lead.Williams added a 38-yard touchdown burst midway through the fourth that gave Washington State a 44-20 lead.Charles Nelson returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to cut WSUs lead to 44-26.Williams added a 3-yard touchdown run.THE TAKEAWAYOregon: The Ducks lead the all-time series 47-40-7, but are clearly not as formidable as in recent years. Their defense looks suspect.Washington State: The Air Raid offense also has a ground attack this year. The Cougars appear to be rebounding from an 0-2 start, and have topped 50 points for two consecutive games. WSU, which beat the Ducks 45-38 in double overtime last season, notched consecutive wins over Oregon for the first time since 2002 and 2003.UP NEXTOregon hosts No. 10 WashingtonWashington State plays at No. 7 Stanford, which lost big at Washington on Friday. ' ' '