The Minnesota Twins got off on the right foot on Tuesday night at AT&T Park to open their series against the San Francisco Giants. The Twins scored eight runs in the first inning, as the first eight hitters of the evening all got hits and Minnesota pounded San Francisco by a score of 9-2 to pick up their eighth consecutive victory.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (3-9, 4.06 ERA) only managed to get one Twin out before he was lifted, and that was when he got Twins pitcher Carl Pavano (5-5, 4.05 ERA) on strikes to prevent the Twins from setting a Major League record with nine straight hits to start a ball game. The Twins had to settle for being the first American League team to start a game with eight consecutive hits since the New York Yankees did it on September 25, 1990 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Here's how the first inning went for Minnesota:
-Ben Revere singles to left-center
-Alexi Casilla doubles to left, Revere moves to third
-Joe Mauer reaches on infield single, Revere scores, Casilla to third (1-0, Twins)
-Michael Cuddyer doubles to left, Casilla scores, Mauer to third (2-0, Twins)
-Delmon Young singles to center, Mauer scores, Cuddyer to third (3-0, Twins)
-Danny Valencia double to left-center, Cuddyer scores, Young to third (4-0, Twins)
-Luke Hughes singles to left, Young and Valencia score (6-0, Twins)
-Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubles to deep center, Hughes to third
-Carl Pavano strikes out
-Revere doubles to left, Hughes and Nishioka score (8-0, Twins)
-Casilla reaches and moves to second on an error by Pablo Sandoval, Revere moves to third
-Mauer lines into double play with Casilla getting doubled off of second
That was all the Twins would need, as Pavano put together another outstanding start, going eight innings and only allowing two San Francisco runs while scattering nine hits. Jose Mijares came on and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish the job for the Twins.
Minnesota added one final run on Casilla's solo home run in the top of the ninth inning, his second consecutive game with a home run.
The same two teams will go at it again on Wednesday night at AT&T Park, with the first pitch being scheduled for 9:15 PM Central time. The pitching match-up for that one will see right-hander Nick Blackburn (6-4, 3.16 ERA) take the hill for the Twins, while the Giants will counter with right-hander Ryan Vogelsong (4-1, 1.92 ERA).