OAKLAND — Twins catcher Joe Mauer regained the American League batting lead in Friday’s 12-2 victory over Oakland, going 5-for-6 to raise his average to .324.

“The last couple weeks, I haven’t been feeling that great at the plate, so I just tried to go back to basics, I guess,” Mauer said. “Go up the middle, and it seemed to work out for me.”

Mauer was batting .214 on this road trip but matched a career-high for hits. He also had five hits on June 26, 2006 against the Dodgers.

Mauer’s four RBI also matched a season-high, giving him 66 for the season.

The Twins finished with a season-high 20 hits, including four by Justin Morneau.

“It’s huge,” Mauer said. “Over the last couple weeks, I think we’ve been pressing a little bit to score some runs. And our pitchers have been doing a great job, especially on this road trip, of giving us a chance to win.

“Sometimes you try too hard and come up a little short. I’m glad we had a little bit of a breakout game.”

BRESLOW GETS FIRST SAVE

Craig Breslow notched his first major league save, pitching three innings of perfect relief. He notched three strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 2.37.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s nice to have one under my belt if I never get another one. But more importantly, to be able to eat up some innings and save the back end of the bullpen for [Saturday].”

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