MINNEAPOLIS -- Neither the Minnesota Twins nor the Oakland Athletics wanted a postponement, despite a severe thunderstorm that delayed the first pitch by 2 hours and 42 minutes and left the ballpark largely empty.The long wait was well worth it for Tommy Milone and Twins.Kennys Vargas, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano hit home runs, Milone beat his old team and the Twins topped the Athletics 11-4 in a game that ended early Wednesday morning.When you win, it makes it look like a good decision so Im glad we got it in, Twins manager Paul Molitor said.The game started at 9:52 p.m. and ended at 1 a.m.They were right, As manager Bob Melvin said. They got it in.Winning for the first time in eight starts since Sept. 28, Milone finished the sixth inning for only the second time this season. Marcus Semien hit his 18th home run in the second, but that was all the As managed against Milone (1-2). He allowed five hits and one walk to the team that traded him to the Twins two summers ago, crediting catcher Kurt Suzuki for calling a smart game behind the plate.We were on the same page pretty much the whole night, Milone said.Milone averaged 4 1/2 innings over his first six starts this year. With top prospect Jose Berrios on a tear for Triple-A Rochester, the left-hander was likely pitching to keep his spot in the rotation. Molitor essentially acknowledged as much before and after the game.I try not to think about that. I try to just go out there and do what I do on the field, Milone said.Danny Valencia hit a three-run homer in the eighth to bring the As within 7-4, but Sano hit his three-run shot in the bottom of the inning to seal it and help the Twins (28-55) move ahead of Atlanta (28-56) in the race for the worst record in the major leagues.Vargas, recalled Monday from Triple-A Rochester, went deep for the first time since June 22, 2015, with a two-run, two-out home run in the fifth against Sean Manaea (3-5). Then Kepler homered on the next pitch.After a meager four-hit performance Monday, the Twins brought their bats to life. Suzuki, another former As player, had two RBI. Byron Buxton had two doubles, driving in one.The dark clouds rolled in early enough to cancel batting practice, but with both teams scheduled to travel Wednesday evening (Minnesota to Texas and Oakland to Houston) the preference was to avoid a doubleheader the next day. So they waited out the heavy rain, swirling wind and thunder and lightning, and the tarp was pulled off the infield at 9:17 p.m. In the clubhouse, some of the Twins gathered around shortstop Eduardo Nunezs cubicle to talk about his All-Star Game selection.Milone hadnt begun his pregame routine when the rain began, so he said he wasnt bothered much by the delay. Manaea might have been.I know he was pretty antsy, Melvin said. He kept coming in here asking me if Id heard anything. For starting pitchers, theyre the ones that are affected the most. Theyre very routine-oriented.WEATHER TRACKINGPaid attendance was announced at 16,938, the smallest crowd in Target Fields seven seasons. The actual number of people in the seats at first pitch couldnt have been much more than 1,000. The Twins granted fans ticket exchanges for a future game because of the delay, which was the 31st since the ballpark opened in 2010. There have been 14 postponed games and one suspended.TRAINERS ROOMATHLETICS: Oakland reserve catcher Josh Phegley, placed Sunday on the DL, had minor surgery in San Francisco to remove a cruciate ligament cyst on the inside of his right knee that was causing swelling and inflammation. Hell be reassessed in 10 days. Matt McBride has taken over as the backup.TWINS: Buxton was back in the Minnesota lineup after two days off to rest bumps and bruises. He crashed hard into the wall in left-center making a catch in the game Friday. In the seventh inning, Buxton made a sprinting grab of Jake Smolinskis smashed line drive and collided with the fence around the same spot.UP NEXTOakland RHP Sonny Gray (3-7, 5.42 ERA) will pitch Wednesday against Minnesota RHP Ervin Santana (2-7, 4.50 ERA) in the series finale.Gray is 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA in six starts since coming off the DL due to a trapezius muscle strain between his shoulder and neck. Santana gave up only three hits in his last start, going 6 2/3 innings in a defeat by Texas. That was his lowest hits total since opening day, when a rain delay limited him to two innings. Custom Brewers Jerseys .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Brewers Jerseys China .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. http://www.custombrewersjersey.com/ . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Custom Brewers Jersey China . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Custom Brewers T-shirts . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Jay Ajayi talked with his offensive line before Sundays game about his yardage objective, and at the time the numbers discussed seemed outrageously optimistic.After all, the Miami Dolphins second-year pro had never had a 100-yard day.I told him before the game, `Lets go for a couple of hundred, guard Jermon Bushrod said. He said 150. And I said, `No, a couple of hundred.Ajayi met the goal by crossing it. He ran 62 yards for a touchdown on his final carry, pushing his total to 204 yards and punctuating the Dolphins 30-15 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.It was by far the most impressive victory for the Dolphins (2-4) under first-year coach Adam Gase. Their only other win came in overtime against woeful Cleveland.No one likes losing week after week, Ajayi said. We were determined to come out this week and put a stop to that.Ajayi became the first NFL rusher this year to top 160 yards. He joined Ricky Williams as the only Dolphins to rush for at least 200 yards and two scores in a game.Ajayi carried a career-high 25 times, and his other touchdown came on a 1-yard run. He became the Dolphins first 200-yard rusher since Reggie Bush in 2011.Afterward, he said the milestone was still stinking in.In the NFL, probably thats a big thing, Ajayi said. It hasnt hit me yet, but its a big deal. Its something to cherish for sure.It helped that Gases offensive line was intact for the first time this year after a series of health issues. Along with the stout one-man ground game, Miami netted 252 yards passing without a sack.It makes a bigg difference when we have holes and the quarterback is not on his back, Gase said.ddddddddddddAjayi was a fantasy league bargain last week because he totaled just 117 yards in the first five games. He ran for 187 all of last season, his rookie year.He was so off the radar that even after the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin didnt refer to Ajayi by name.That back ran hard, ran through tackles, Tomlin said.The Dolphins saw the potential in the former fifth-round pick from Boise State, even though he fell out of favor at times this year because of fumbling and attitude issues when he wasnt happy about his place on the depth chart.Ive watched him struggle, teammate Jarvis Landry said, and Ive watched him grow by leaps and bounds.Gase went with a four-back rotation early in the season, but when the offense sputtered, he decided to try Ajayi as his feature back.Ajayis previous career high for carries was 13, so he was understandably tired in the fourth quarter. But rookie running back Kenyan Drake and other teammates urged him to finish strong against the equally weary Steelers.It felt great, Ajayi said. The other running backs were pushing me. My boy Drake kept saying, `Get that 200.On the last carry, he did. Objective accomplished.---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '