Seriously, if the one-hit wonders Oaktown's 3-5-7 played the Twins, our guys would probably win the game. After all, for all of our struggles, the Twins would match up favorably against an all-girl hip-hop act from the Bay Area that pretty much disappeared after the unforgettable Juicy Gotcha Krazy. (And, hey, we did have TWO hits in the series opener, not to mention the TWO runs we scored this time!)

It was Oaktown's Athletics that showed up at the Metrodome Tuesday, fully confident that at some point in the evening something good would happen that would allow them to win their 193rd game in a row while the Twins would drop their 44th straight, falling to 6th place in the AL Central.

There was no panic among the Oaklanders as the Twins took a 1-0 lead on J-Jo's home run, which was hit while RD was attending his alley's National Night Out festivities, which included brats and creamed corn and an overload of dessert creations.

Nor was their panic with Michael Cuddyer hit a 1,234-foot home run in the 7th to tie the score at 2.

Why should there be? After the efforts of Joe Mays and Matt Guerrier did a fine job of holding the A's over seven innings (We'll overlook that Mays walked Oakland's Nos. 8 and 9 batters in the fifth because, after all, Twins bottom-of-the-order batters are ALWAYS reaching base in that fashion) Gardener Ron Managerhire brought in Cesar (J.C.) Romero to start the eighth.

What a Joker, huh?

After failing to retire any of the 107 batters he faced, and throwing first-pitch strikes to 3 of them, Romero left the mound and hightailed it to Target Center for a late audition with the And 1 streetballers. Incredibly, after not being able to make a move before the July 31 trading deadline, General Manager Terry Ryan took advantage of the Intersport Trading Loophole to ship Romero to And 1 for the baller known as Half-Man, Half-Amazing. He's never player there before, but Managerhire suggested that his new player would immediately take over at second base.

"Can't be any worse that Boonie, right?" the Gardener told RD in an exclusive interview.

The final two offensive attempts were mere formalities. Four straight guys struck out, Lew Ford hit an infield single that was measured at 84 feet and then two more guys grounded out and the A's moved 98 games ahead of the Twins in the wild-card race.

The good news: Tomorrow is Dollar-a-Dog Night and a Twingo Game, and isn't pitching for the A's.

RD'll be there. Will you?