Twins offense continues to hum in 7-4 victory over Padres

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 29, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have emphasized running aggressively on the bases, stealing four more bases in Friday’s series opener against the San Diego Padres, but compiling a dozen hits is a good formula to scoring runs, too.

In a three-hour, one-minute game, the Twins offense wore down Padres pitching in a 7-4 victory at Target Field. Specifically, it was the bottom of the lineup. The bottom four hitters in the batting order — Austin Martin, Royce Lewis, Kody Clemens and Trevor Larnach — combined for eight hits and six runs.

Add it up, and it was the third consecutive game the Twins scored at least seven runs.

The Twins sent all nine of their hitters to the plate during a fourth inning that was four score and what felt like seven years. Padres starter Nestor Cortes allowed the first two batters to reach base, then the infield converged for a stalling tactic disguised as a mound visit.

After a lengthy mound visit, with San Diego manager Mike Shildt on the top step of the dugout as reliever Wandy Peralta warmed up, plate umpire Manny Gonzalez ejected Cortes. There wasn’t much of an argument afterward as Shildt seemingly planned to remove Cortes anyway.

Lewis greeted Peralta with a single, loading the bases with no out. Clemens followed with a ground ball that bounced between second baseman Jake Cronenworth’s legs, turning what looked like a routine double-play ball into an error that left runners on second and third after two runs scored.

Two pitches after Cronenworth’s error, Trevor Larnach slapped a grounder through the middle of a drawn-in infield for a two-run single and a 5-2 lead.

Lewis hit a two-out homer off David Morgan in the fifth inning, connecting on a down-the-middle slider in a two-strike count. Morgan immediately bent at the waist and yelled in frustration. It was Lewis’ ninth homer of the season and his fourth in his past 11 games.

The next three Twins batters reached base after Lewis’ home run, including an RBI single from Byron Buxton.

In the third inning, Buxton made some personal history. After driving in a run on a fielder’s choice grounder, Buxton stole third base for the first time in his career. The only other time he attempted it, he was thrown out by Atlanta’s A.J. Pierzynski on July 26, 2016. With a large lead off Cortes, this time he didn’t even elicit a throw.

It was Buxton’s 20th stolen base of the season, marking his first 20-20 season when matched with his 27 homers. He is the seventh player in team history to achieve the feat, and the franchise’s first 20-20 player since Brian Dozier in 2014. Buxton later added his 21st steal, nabbing second base.

From the third inning through the sixth, the Twins had a staggering 17 batters reach base. They scored seven runs, and it still felt like they squandered an opportunity for an early blowout.

San Diego loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning. After Justin Topa induced a foul out, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run single up the middle. With the tying run at the plate, Topa escaped when Luis Arraez lined into an inning-ending double play.

Twins starter Zebby Matthews, who seemingly sat around more than he pitched, completed a six-inning start for the third time this season. He yielded seven hits and three runs (two earned).

The Padres put their first two batters on base in the third inning after a single and Matthews’ own fielding error on a dribbler back to the mound. Arraez, the former Twins All-Star who is having the worst offensive season of his career, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Matthews gave up another run in the fourth inning on back-to-back two-out hits by Gavin Sheets and Jose Iglesias. Matthews struck out only three batters, his lowest total in a game this year, but he was constantly on the attack with a first-pitch strike to 18 of his 23 batters.

Kody Funderburk earned his second career save after stranding two runners in the ninth inning, retiring Tatis as the tying run on a fly out to end the game.