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MINNEAPOLIS -- Jim Johnson struggled again. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Jersey . The Oakland Athletics picked up their new closer with a strong finish. Derek Norris hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning, and the As bounced back from another blown save by Johnson to beat the Minnesota Twins 7-4 on Wednesday. "When someone doesnt come through the next guy comes up and fills in for him. ... Its a nice chemistry we have here for that to happen," Norris said. Jared Burton (0-1) gave up the one-out drive by the backup catcher Norris, who went deep on Tuesday night, too. Dan Otero (1-0) got the last eight outs for the victory in relief of Johnson, who has given up seven runs, nine hits and six walks in five appearances with the As. Hes simply been falling behind in too many counts. "Whatever hes got to do to change that he will," Norris said, adding: "Hes going to go on a roll, and this isnt going to be a matter any longer I dont think." Minnesota trailed 4-0 after a rocky first inning by Phil Hughes, who needed 40 pitches to get his first out. Jason Kubel homered in the second and Brian Dozier went deep in the eighth. Johnson, who had 50 saves for Baltimore last season, gave up the third of four hits by Kubel to start the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out, Johnson nearly had Eduardo Escobar struck out, but a foul tip was ruled on his two-strike swing. Escobar then poked a single into to left field to cut Oaklands lead to 4-3. A one-hop throw to third baseman Josh Donaldson nearly forced out Kurt Suzuki, who was ruled safe, and a video review ruled the call stood -- meaning there was not "clear and convincing" evidence to overturn it. Donaldson said he closed his glove on the ball before Suzukis foot hit. But As manager Bob Melvin didnt waste time arguing, instead replacing Johnson with Otero. "I just had to go get him. I didnt feel great about it, but I had to do it. Keep working to get him right," Melvin said, declining to speculate on whether Johnsons closer job was in jeopardy. Dozier hit a sacrifice fly to right field, just deep enough for Suzuki to race home and sneak a hand onto the plate in front of the tag by Norris. Another umpire-initiated review confirmed the safe call, and the crowd of 22,973 cheered loudly when the video board provided the proof. There was more drama before Norris came up again. Glen Perkins struck out Donaldson to end the 10th inning, and the Twins closer shouted some obscenities and pointed at Donaldson, who gestured and "started to red line," as Donaldson put it afterward. Donaldsons path to Perkins was cut off by the Twins, and after the dugouts mostly emptied the tension de-escalated. Donaldson nearly homered during that at-bat, but the ball drifted foul. Perkins said he thought Donaldson was admiring his drive too long. "I dont feel like I disrespected him at all. Im up there trying to win a game for our team, and hes trying to win a game for his team. Juices are flowing," Donaldson said. Said Perkins: "There were things that happened in that at-bat that we both could have done differently. So well leave it at that." Donaldson hit an RBI double after Hughes walked the first two batters of the game. Brandon Moss tacked on a two-run single, and Alberto Callaspo added an RBI single. None of the hits were particularly hard, but the damage was done. Hughes walked three and struck out three in five innings, with five hits surrendered. Twins starters have one win in eight turns, with a collective 6.43 ERA. Oakland starter Jesse Chavez pitched seven smooth innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. As starters have allowed three runs or fewer in each of their first eight games, for a 2.02 ERA. NOTES: The As held CF Coco Crisp out again following a cortisone shot he had in his left wrist and likely will do so again on Thursday. ... The Twins honoured Gardenhire before the game for his 1,000th career victory by giving him a hand-crafted humidor filled with, yep, 1,000 cigars. ... Oakland has eight straight wins over Minnesota, all with at least seven runs. ... The As will send RHP Dan Straily (0-1, 4.50 ERA) to the mound for the series finale, and RHP Mike Pelfrey (0-1, 5.06 ERA) is set to pitch for the Twins. Vlade Divac Jersey . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. Charlotte Hornets Shirts . Sections of the British media reported Friday that Brooklyn Beckham, the son of United great David, was invited to a training session at the club on Thursday. https://www.cheaphornets.com/505l-robert-parish-jersey-hornets.html . It took five games, but the Celtics finally helped Stevens earn his first NBA victory. "Im going to celebrate for a whole 12 minutes, and then Im going to start watching Orlando and trying to figure them out," the first-year Celtics coach said after Boston beat the Utah Jazz, one of the leagues other winless teams, 97-87 on Wednesday night.DENVER -- The Memphis Grizzlies had a bumpy ride into Denver early Monday. They had a hard landing Monday night and still managed to keep themselves in the thick of the post-season hunt. Zach Randolph had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Mike Conley added 19 points and the Grizzlies kept pace in the playoff race with a 94-92 win over the Denver Nuggets. The Grizzlies moved into a three-way tie with Dallas and Phoenix for seventh in the Western Conference. Memphis plays both teams once more -- at the Suns on April 14 and home against the Mavericks in the regular-season finale two days later. The rest of the schedule includes road games at Minnesota and San Antonio, and a home game with Miami, which is battling for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. "Weve got to keep playing," Randolph said. "Each game is an important game for us, so weve got to come out with a sense of urgency." Courtney Lee scored 19 points for Memphis, which stopped a two-game skid after an adventurous flight from Portland into Denver early Monday morning. The Grizzlies landing into Denver International Airport was rough thanks to high winds in the area. "Oh my gosh," Randolph said. "Oh man." The Grizzlies also handled the turbulence created by the Nuggets. Randolph said the Grizzlies have to be ready for teams with nothing on the line, especially with every game important in their playoff push. "A lot of teams is just free-styling, aint going post-season so they dont care so theyre playing freely," he said. "Were playing for something so weve got to come out from the beginning." The Nuggets nearly hurt Memphis playoff chances, coming from seven down in the fourth to make it a last-possession game. Denver rallied to get within 88-86 on Timofey Mozgovs free throw and the teams traded buckets before Conley banked in a 3-pointer to make it 93-88 with 36 seconds left. "Mike Conley hit a big shot," Memphis coach David Joerger said. "I thought we did a good job of executing in getting the shots we waanted down the stretch. P. J. Washington Jersey. " After Randy Foye hit a layup for the Nuggets, Randolph missed a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining. Denver got the rebound, called a timeout and set up a play for the 7-foot-1 Mozgov at the 3-point line. He missed but then dunked the rebound to get the Nuggets within 93-92. "We know that I can make 3s," Mozgov said. "We tried. I just missed it. It wasnt good." The miss wasnt as costly as Mozgovs decision to dunk his rebound instead of pass it out to a teammate for another attempt to tie the game. "What surprised me is he didnt kick it back out when he got the dunk," Randolph said. Lee was fouled with 0.7 seconds left, hit the first free throw and deliberately missed the second to end the game. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw didnt think Lees missed free throw hit the rim and pleaded with the refs to look at the replay. The officials told him it wasnt a reviewable play. "In a situation where its a deadball and theres three referees and theres no live action going on, just looking at the free throw, I dont understand why that cant be seen," Shaw said. Mozgov tied a career high with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds and Kenneth Faried had 17 points for the Nuggets, who have dropped four in a row. The teams play again Friday in Memphis. The Grizzlies jumped out to 16-point lead in the second quarter on Lees 13 points. But the Nuggets rallied behind Mozgov, who had seven points in the final 3:01 on three dunks and a free throw to cut Memphis lead to 47-45 at the break. Randolph took over late in the third quarter to help Memphis build a 75-68 lead heading into the fourth. Randolph scored 11 of his 13 points in the period in the final 4:16 as the Grizzlies expanded a two-point lead to seven. NOTES: Nuggets F Wilson Chandler missed his fifth straight game with a left groin strain. ... The Grizzlies are 27-11 since Marc Gasol returned from a sprained MCL in his left knee on Jan. 14. ... The Nuggets had just 10 players available for the game. ' ' '