Brian Duensing has struggled in his trips to the mound as of late -- much like the rest of his Minnesota Twins teammates -- but he was able to turn in another quality start on Monday night. The Twins' bats did their part, too, as Minnesota ended up with a 7-2 victory to start its series against the Oakland Athletics.

Duensing, just 3-8 on the season, struck out seven batters in six innings while giving up just one earned run before letting the bullpen do the rest of the work.

The heart of the Twins' lineup did the rest of the work, as Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham each went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs while two-hitter Darin Matroianni -- called-up to be inserted into the lineup for Denard Span -- went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and runs apiece.

The A's started Brandon McCarthy, but he was pulled just 3.1 innings into his appearance after giving up six runs and 10 hits en route to the loss and a 6-5 record.

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