Major League Baseball
Minnesota 16, San Diego 0
When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 81°
Umpires: Home - Lance Barrett, 1B - Jim Reynolds, 2B - Doug Eddings, 3B - Ben May
Attendance: 28852

MINNEAPOLIS -- No team ever homered in each of the first six innings of a game before Tuesday.

The Minnesota Twins accomplished that feat, then homered in the seventh inning, too, as they routed the San Diego Padres 16-0.

The seven homers were a Target Field record and a season high for the Twins.

Jason Castro homered twice, and Brian Dozier hit his 30th of the season. Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas also homered for Minnesota.

The ball was flying out of the ballpark whenever the Twins came to bat, and Minnesota's dugout was enjoying the show as each inning yielded another home run.

"When you see those balls keep going out every single inning, you get happy," Polanco said through a translator. "It was a lot of excitement in the dugout today. It was a pretty cool thing to be a part of."

Twins starter Kyle Gibson (10-10) cruised through six innings, giving up four hits while striking out six to win his fourth straight decision. He is unbeaten with a 1.38 ERA in his last five outings.

Gibson has been the benefactor of big offensive outbursts in two of his past three starts. The Twins won 17-0 earlier this month in a game that Gibson started.

"I'll take it every time," Gibson said of the run support. "That's something that makes it a whole lot easier out there on us, for sure."

Travis Wood (3-6 overall, 2-3 for San Diego) exited after 2 1/3 innings. Wood gave up nine runs and nine hits, including three homers, before getting the hook.

It was the second time in as many starts that he failed to get through the third inning.

"If I made a mistake, they capitalized on it," Wood said. "Even when I executed pitches, they had a great game plan and found the holes. They were able to put a lot on me and get me out of there real quick."

Minnesota recorded 18 hits while the Padres had four against Gibson and the Twins' bullpen. The only inning in which Minnesota didn't score was the eighth, as it went down 1-2-3.

The Twins, who are trying to hold onto the second wild-card spot in the American League, had a similar final score on Sept. 2 in a 17-0 win over the Royals. Minnesota entered Tuesday's game with a negative run differential for the season but ended the night with a plus-six in that category.

"Tonight was everything you could ask for to open up the homestand," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We just kept getting big hits."

Dozier put Minnesota up 1-0 in the first inning with his eighth leadoff home run of the season, reaching 30 overall for the second straight year. He became the fifth player in Twins history to accomplish that feat, joining Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, Gary Gaetti and Justin Morneau.

Minnesota added six runs in the second. Joe Mauer delivered a two-out, two-run single to left off Wood that scored Castro and Ehire Adrianza for a 5-0 lead. Mauer then scored on a two-run homer by Polanco.

In the third, Castro connected for his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot that drove in Robbie Grossman to increase Minnesota's lead to 9-0 and chase Wood.

Rosario joined the home run parade with Minnesota's third two-run homer of the night. His fourth-inning drive to left-center field put the Twins up 11-0, and Castro's second home run of the game made it 12-0 in the fifth.

Escobar hit a solo shot in the sixth, and Vargas belted a three-run homer in the seventh.

The same teams conclude their two-game series Wednesday at Target Field.

NOTES: Padres RHP Carter Capps will miss the rest of the season after doctors found a blood clot, manager Andy Green said. Capps went to a hospital in Minneapolis late Monday night believing he had kidney stones. Further testing revealed a blood clot. Capps, who missed all of 2016 following Tommy John surgery, made 11 relief appearances with San Diego this season and had a 6.57 ERA. ... The Twins selected the contract of LHP Gabriel Moya. He posted a 0.61 ERA in 13 relief appearances with Double-A Chattanooga. Minnesota designated INF Engelb Vielma for release or assignment to make room for Moya on the 40-man roster. ... Minnesota 3B Miguel Sano is still working his way back from a stress reaction in his left shin, and manager Paul Molitor said Tuesday he still is not sure when Sano will return.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
San Diego   Minnesota
Travis Wood Player Kyle Gibson
Loss W/L Win
2.1 IP 6.0
2 Strikeouts 6
9 Hits 4
34.71 ERA 0.00
Hitting
San Diego   Minnesota
Austin Hedges Player Jason Castro
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 4
0 HR 2
1 TB 9
.500 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
San Diego 4 0 4 .129 11 8 0 2 0 0
Minnesota 18 7 43 .429 8 6 16 1 0 1