With Manny Machado now officially the Padres‘ third baseman,

PEORIA Dustin McGowan Jersey , Ariz. (AP) — Ian Kinsler can focus on playing second base for San Diego.Kinsler, fresh off a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox, was on a long list of possibilities at third base before that talk was squelched when Machado agreed this week to a $300 million, 10-year contract.“The buzz was circulating around camp and everyone was really excited about it,” Kinsler said. “He is a threat. You don’t want to see him at the plate and late-game situations. He’s a game changer.”Kinsler can now shift all of his focus to second base.“We brought him in with the expectation of playing at second base for the majority of the time,” manager Andy Green said. “If we wanted to explore more versatility, if our roster didn’t change, then we would explore that versatility.”Kinsler has played only two innings at third base in his 13-year career.The Padres are Kinsler’s fifth team. He opened last season with the Los Angeles Angels before being traded to Boston at the deadline. He played in 11 postseason games as the Red Sox won their fourth World Series title since 2004.“To be a champion http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , you have to bring it every day,” said Kinsler, who played in the World Series with Texas in 2010 and 2011. “There are no breaks. At this level, you have to bring your best every day if you want to win a championship. Last year was refreshing for me to get back into that environment.”He then signed an $8 million, two-year contract with the Padres.“I had some good opportunities all come together at the same time but I felt like this was a really good fit for me and just jumped on it,” Kinsler said. “There’s a lot of excitement here. Anywhere there’s an exciting atmosphere with young talent and a team that can make waves quickly, it’s always fun to be a part of. I’m looking forward to it.”During spring training, Kinsler is back in his home state. He grew up in Tucson and attended Arizona State University his sophomore season. He transferred to Missouri, where he hit .335 his junior season and made the All-Big-12 Conference second team.“I love it here Adeiny Hechavarria Jersey ,” Kinsler said. “The pink mornings, big moons and sun, mountains, it just brings back a lot of memories. I think you always love to be back where you spent your childhood.” OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland will have to take its bubbly on the road.Kyle Gibson allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, Jake Cave hit a two-run homer and the Minnesota Twins beat the Athletics 5-1 Sunday, preventing Oakland from clinching an AL wild-card berth in its last regular-season home game.“I think it was a little disappointing,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “A lot of times we put on our best shows late in games, unfortunately it didn’t happen today.”Oakland leads Tampa Bay by 7½ games and needs one win or a Rays loss to clinch its first playoff berth in four years. The A’s remained 1½ games behind the New York Yankees Sergio Romo Jersey , who have clinched a wild-card berth, and fell 4½ games back of AL West-leading Houston.After going 50-31 for its best home record since 2013, the A’s finish with three-game series at Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels. Oakland is 60-26 since mid-June.“It would have been nice to clinch, but we weren’t changing anything up or anything like that,” A’s first baseman Matt Olson said.Gibson (9-13) gave up seven hits and three walks. Trevor May struck out Ramon Laureano with two on in the eighth and pitched around a one-out walk in the ninth for his first big league save.Minnesota finished 29-52 on the road.Oakland won two of three despite going 0 for 21 with runners in scoring position in the series, including seven at-bats Sunday.Trevor Cahill (6-4) allowed five runs — three earned — and five hits in 3 1/3 innings.Cave hit a two-run homer in the first, but Olson cut the lead in half in the second with his 28th homer.Minnesota added three runs in the fourth after Robbie Grossman singled with one out and Tyler Austin hit a potential double-play grounder to third baseman Matt Chapman, who threw the ball to the left of second baseman Chad Pinder and into right field for his 19th error.“I was worried about the catch and I didn’t pick up my target,” Chapman said. “I think I had a little more time http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , I might have rushed my throw because I wanted to turn the double play. It was my fault that three runs scored so it doesn’t really feel good.”Max Kepler hit an RBI single, Ehire Adrianza chased Cahill with a run-scoring double and Chris Gimenez greeted Shawn Kelley with a sacrifice fly.“For the last couple of years we’ve seen people celebrate when we’re in town,” Gibson said. “To be able to finish off the season and not have to watch anybody celebrate, kind of nice.”FAN BASEA crowd of 35,754 raised Oakland’s season total at home to 1,527,588.FRANCHISE MARKJoe Mauer was 2 for 4. His fifth-inning single was his 3,072nd time reaching base, tying Harmon Killebrew’s franchise record. Twins manager Paul Molitor said he’s been communicating regularly with Mauer about his role in this week’s six-game homestand. Mauer is contemplating retirement.“We haven’t finalized how many games he will play throughout the course of the week http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , and which game of this particular campaign will be his last one,” Molitor said.TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: C Mitch Garver (concussion) played catch on the field, but Molitor said it has not been determined whether he will play again this year. Garver has been out since he took a foul tip to his mask on Sept. 12. … Molitor expects to make decisions on the playing status of 3B Miguel Sano (lower left leg bruise) and 2B Logan Forsythe (left knee inflammation) on Tuesday.UP NEXTTwins: Minnesota has not announced a starting pitcher for Monday’s series opener against Detroit.Athletics: RHP Daniel Mengden (7-6, 4.00 ERA) will make his first start since June 23 in Monday’s series opener in Seattle. Mengden is 1-0 with 1.83 ERA in five relief appearances since being called up from Triple-A Nashville on Aug. 27.