OAKLAND, Calif. — As he defended the Twins' demotion of Royce Lewis to the minors on Wednesday morning, Rocco Baldelli felt the need to throw in a timely reminder.
"Well, we're getting Carlos Correa back," the manager pointed out.
Boy, were they ever.
Correa came off the injured list with a single, a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in a run as the Twins pounded the Athletics 14-4. By taking two of three to open a weeklong road trip, Minnesota won a three-game series at Oakland Coliseum for the first time since 2010.
"I'm not surprised one bit," Baldelli said of Correa's return. "To watch him go up there, have a pretty good idea of what he's trying to do even in his first at-bat, and just whack one to the right side — it shows a lot of composure. It shows a lot of skill."
It shows a lot of impatience with the injured list, the shortstop said.
"I was getting kind of bored in the dugout. I was helping out in different ways, but at some point, I started itching," Correa said of his 11-day absence after suffering a bruised middle finger when he was hit by a pitch. "Getting back out there, it definitely felt like Opening Day all over."
For Sonny Gray, it felt like Homecoming. The former A's All-Star had never beaten his old team, had never won a game as a visitor at the coliseum, so he was even more determined than usual, if that's possible, to pitch well.