Twins pound 7 homers to beat Padres 16-0

Published 7:19 am Wednesday, September 13, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — Jason Castro homered twice, Brian Dozier was a double from the cycle and the Minnesota Twins pounded the San Diego Padres 16-0 on Tuesday night.

Minnesota hit a season-high seven home runs, setting a Target Field record for most homers in a game, to back another strong start from Kyle Gibson. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Twins set a major league record by homering in each of the first seven innings with Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas adding to the total.

Gibson (10-10) pitched six innings with four hits and six strikeouts. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five straight starts for Minnesota, which maintained its hold on the second wild card spot in the American League.

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Travis Wood (3-6) surrendered nine runs and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings for San Diego, which had won three of its past four games.

Gibson has been a part of a Twins’ rotation that has become more consistent with Bartolo Colon added to Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. But Minnesota’s surge back into contention after slipping in July has been driven by one of the league’s best offenses.