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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).DeAaron Fox Jersey . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Oscar Robertson Kings Jersey . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. http://www.nbakingsonline.com/Authentic-Marvin-Bagley-III-Kings-Jersey/ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Mitch Richmond Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. Jason Williams Jersey . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff.THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Eric Dickerson summed up Jeff Fishers firing in three words: It was time.The Hall of Fame running back and Los Angeles Rams legend recently dragged Fisher into the middle of controversy by detailing the dialogue from a contested phone conversation and voicing his displeasure with the embattled coach on several media platforms the past couple weeks.Dickerson was asked if his public spat with Fisher might have played a part in Fishers dismissal.I dont know, Dickerson said in a phone conversation. I have no idea, really. That was not my idea. He called me. I didnt call him. He called me. If Jeff Fisher wouldve called me and talked to me like a man, not trying to talk down to me, it mightve gone different.Dickerson was enraged by Fishers calling him to basically deny him sideline passes because some of his public comments made players feel uncomfortable. Dickerson shot back, and though Fisher supposedly backtracked on his initial comments, Dickerson vowed to never attend a Rams game so long as Fisher was the head coach.Now the shun has been lifted.Yeah, Ill come to games, Dickerson said. Most definitely, Ill come to football games.Dickerson might not be able to make it to the final two home games because the first will take place on Christmas Eve andd the other on New Years Day.dddddddddddd But he will resume being a physical presence with the Rams moving forward, and its fair to say he was pleased with the organizations decision to part ways with Fisher, even though Dickerson stressed that it wasnt personal.It wasnt like I didnt like Jeff, Dickerson said. I dont really know Jeff Fisher. I dont. I dont know Jeff Fisher at all. I met him a couple times. Hes been a nice guy, cool. But I dont know Jeffs personality; he doesnt know my personality. If he knew my personality, he wouldnt call me like that.Fisher was fired the day after a 42-14 loss at home to the Atlanta Falcons, one Dickerson called horrible to watch. It put the Rams at 4-9 after eight defeats in nine games, and it gave Fisher 165 career losses, tied with Dan Reeves for the most in NFL history.Dickerson would like to see the Rams get a head coach with a proven record and likes the thought of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who helped develop Andrew Luck at Stanford and Alex Smith with the San Francisco 49ers.I dont even know Jim Harbaugh personally, Dickerson said, but he has a proven track record in the National Football League. ' ' '