Twins 4, Athletics 0: Josh Willingham homered and drove in three runs and Francisco Liriano threw six innings of three-hit ball in his return to the starting rotation as Minnesota finished its first three-game sweep in nearly a year.

A night after hitting a walk-off, three-run home run, Willingham had another big game against his former team. He opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first and added his 10th home run - a two-run blast off starter Tyson Ross - in the fifth.

Liriano (1-5) was dominant in his first start since May 7, striking out nine and walking two over six scoreless innings. Alex Burnett and Jeff Gray combined to finish the three-hitter and send the A's to their eighth consecutive loss.

It was Oakland's ninth shutout of the season, the most in the majors.

Ross (2-6) allowed four runs on six hits over five innings. He walked three.

The Twins' last three-game sweep came June 17-19, 2011 against San Diego.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The A's have scored 14 runs in their past nine games and rank last in the American League in scoring. … Minnesota 3B Jamey Carroll went 0-for-3 to snap his hitting streak at seven games. … Oakland 2B Jemile Weeks went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to seven games.