OAKLAND, Calif. -- Coco Crisps presence at the top of the batting order and in centre field has led the Oakland Athletics to so many key victories. Now that he is back from a neck injury, the Athletics are seeing it again. Crisp hit a bases-loaded triple, Scott Kazmir faced the minimum through six innings before running into trouble, and the As beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Friday night for their 11th straight win in the series. "On any given night it can be anybody," Crisp said. "Fortunately I was able to find a gap and knock a few runs in. We rely on everybody. Its nice, though, when youre able to help out and contribute." Oakland owns its longest unbeaten run against the Twins, whose last victory came at Target Field on Sept. 10, 2013. The As are 5-0 this year. Kazmir (13-4) tossed just eight balls among his first 42 pitches through four perfect innings before Kennys Vargas broke up the bid with a single off shortstop Jed Lowries glove. Yet the As turned a spectacular double play on a grounder by Kurt Suzuki to third two batters later. "It cant get any better than that, making a diving play, getting up and making a strong, accurate throw," Crisp said of Donaldson starting the 5-4-3 play. Kazmir was dominant deep into the game five days after being handed his first loss in six starts and allowing a season-high 10 hits in a Sunday loss to Kansas City. He followed fellow southpaw Jon Lesters three-hit gem in a 3-0 win Thursday with his own impressive outing -- until the Twins made it interesting. "Its something that kind of pumps you up," Kazmir said. "I say it all the time, as starters we have a friendly challenge and try to outdo each other." Trevor Plouffe hit an RBI single in the seventh as Minnesota ended a 19-inning scoreless streak and avoided being shut out in consecutive games for the first time this season. Oswaldo Arcia singled in a run and Chris Parmelees two-run double chased Kazmir. Ryan Cook entered and immediately gave up Eduardo Nunezs RBI double. "We worked some good at-bats off him and that puts pressure on them," Plouffe said of Kazmir. "We put ourselves in a position of falling behind again." Kyle Gibson (10-9) allowed six runs -- five earned -- and five hits, struck out three and walked a season-high five in five-plus innings while facing the As for the first time. He dropped to 4-1 in six starts against the AL West this season. Gibson loaded the bases on two walks and a single with no outs in the fifth when Crisp tripled to the wall in right-centre. Eric Sogard nearly caught Sam Fuld on the play, crossing home plate a couple of steps later. Sogard doubled in two runs the next inning. BULLPEN RECORD Sean Doolittle retired former As slugger Josh Willingham on a called third strike to end it for his 18th save in 21 opportunities. The As bullpen set an Oakland record with 28 2-3 scoreless innings. The old mark of 27 2-3 was set in June 1998. And Doolittles 18 saves are most by an As lefty. "In a few months once the seasons over it will be cool to look back on," Doolittle said. "Obviously Im really proud to be in the Oakland record books. We have work left to do this season." TRAINERS ROOM Twins: Third base coach Joe Vavra is away from the team and will soon undergo surgery for a torn labrum in his left hip. He wont return to the third-base coachs box this season. "He can sit on the bench," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Hell be back with us." ... After a workout day Thursday, first baseman Joe Mauer was set to play nine innings for Class-A Cedar Rapids as he works his way back from a strained right oblique muscle. Athletics: Lowrie returned to the lineup and played shortstop after being limited by a bruised right index finger. ... First baseman Kyle Blanks, out since June 23 with a strained left calf, was scheduled to join Triple-A Sacramento to begin a rehab assignment Saturday. ON DECK Twins: Right-hander Trevor May will be promoted from Triple-A Rochester to make his major league debut. After Fridays game, the Twins optioned utilityman Chris Colabello to Triple-A to clear roster room. Athletics: Right-hander Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 3.09) makes his seventh start with the As since a July 4 trade with the Cubs. He has allowed six homers in that time. Fake Vans Online . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Fake Vans Slip-on . These teams will see plenty of each other in the next few weeks as three of the Canucks next nine games are against the Wild (after today they meet February 9th in Minnesota and again February 16th at Rogers Arena). http://www.fakevans.com/fake-vans-toy-story/. An offseason trade acquisition from Kansas City, Greinkes National League debut was delayed by a non-baseball injury in the spring, and he was 0-1 after dropping an 8-0 decision at Atlanta in his initial appearance with the Brewers on May 4. Fake Vans From China . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Fake Vans Outlet . "Its amazing to do this coming from such a small island, where tennis isnt necessarily recognized as one of the main sports," Puig said. "Im just happy Im able to be here playing tennis not only for myself, but for my country too.SOCHI, Russia -- A top German biathlete and an Italian bobsledder were kicked out of the Sochi Olympics on Friday in the first doping cases of the Winter Games. Former two-time Olympic gold medallist Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine in both her "A" and "B" samples, the German Olympic Committee said. The committee said she has been removed from the team and was being sent home. Sachenbacher-Stehle -- winner of two golds and three silvers in cross-country skiing at previous games -- blamed the positive test on a nutritional supplement and said she had never knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs. "I am going through the worst nightmare that you can imagine, because I am unable to explain at all how there could be a positive test," she said in a statement. The Italian Olympic Committee, meanwhile, announced that bobsledder William Frullani was ejected from the games after testing positive for the banned stimulant dimetylpentylamine in the athletes village on Tuesday. Frullani, who had not competed yet, asked for a backup test that "confirmed the positive result, resulting in his exclusion from the Italian delegation," CONI said. The IOC declined to comment, citing confidentiality of ongoing anti-doping procedures. Sachenbacher-Stehle, who switched from cross-country to biathlon two years ago, competed in five events in Sochi but did not win any medals. Her best results were two fourth-place finishes, in the 12.5K mass start and the mixed relay. The 33-year-old German was tested after Mondays mass start race. Her backup sample was tested on Friday and confirmed the original finding. Her expulsion from the games was announced after she appeared before an IOC disciplinary commission on Friday afternoon. Sachenbacher-Stehle had been left off Germanys top-ranked womens relay team before Friday nights 4x6-kilometre relay. The team finished 11th. Franziska Hildebrand, who skied the third leg for Germany, said the team was told about the doping case earlier in the day. "We are totally shocked," Hildebrand said. Methylhexanamine is classified on the World Anti-Agencys prohibited list as a "specified stimulant," a group of substances that are more susceptible to inadvertent use and can carry reduced penalties. Sachenbacher-Stehle said she had her nutritional supplements checkked in a lab or cleared by the manufacturer before the games.dddddddddddd "At the moment I can only assure all involved that I never knowingly took banned substances," she said. Any further sanctions outside of the Olympics are up to the International Biathlon Union. The German could face a ban from the sport for a year or more. Michael Vesper, chief of German Olympic body DOSB, said athletes have been repeatedly warned about supplements that contain methylhexanamine. "The DOSB strives for a doping-free sport and a zero tolerance policy," he said in a statement. "We strive only for cleanly achieved performances. Every doping case is first of all a big disappointment. But it is also proof that that control system works." Stefan Schwarzbach, spokesman for the German biathlon and cross-country teams, said a contaminated supplement is a possible explanation for Sachenbacher-Stehles positive test. "We are not sure if its really from an unproven, or dirty, supplement," he said. " We really dont know." "It really seems that it is a mistake," Schwarzbach added. "And she has to handle the consequences." As a cross-country skier, Sachenbacher-Stehle won gold medals in the team sprint at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 4x5K relay at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. She won silver medals in Salt Lake, Vancouver and at the 2006 Turin Games. The only previous German athlete sanctioned for doping at a Winter Olympics was hockey player Alois Schloder, who was disqualified from the 1972 Sapporo Games after a positive test for ephedrine. German-born cross-country skier Johan Muehlegg was competing for Spain in 2002 when he was caught doping and stripped of one of his three gold medals at the Salt Lake City Olympics. In the Italian case, CONI told The Associated Press that it believed Frullani, a former decathlete, purchased the stimulant on the Internet from the United States, since it is not available in Italy. Dimethylamphetamine is also classified as a "specified stimulant" on the WADA list. Samuele Romanini will replace Frullani as the brakeman for the four-man bobsled race, which begins Saturday. The IOC is conducting 2,453 drug tests in Sochi, a record for the Winter Games. The IOC also stores Olympic doping samples for 10 years to allow for retesting when new methods become available. ' ' '