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Twins pound Giants behind 8-run 1st inning

Jun 22, 2011 - 7:09 AM San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Twins came out of the gate flying on Tuesday, pounding out eight runs in the first inning en route to a 9-2 thrashing of the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game interleague series at AT&T Park.

Luke Hughes and Ben Revere highlighted the Twins attack, with a pair of hits and two RBI apiece.

"We just hit and found the right holes," said Revere.

Alexi Casilla belted a solo home run while Danny Valencia and Michael Cuddyer added RBI doubles for Minnesota, which extended its winning streak to a season-high eight games.

Carl Pavano (5-5) worked eight solid innings, giving up two runs on nine hits while fanning two and walking none to earn the win.

Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (3-9) was shelled, going only 1/3 of an inning and giving up eight runs on nine hits to absorb the loss for the Giants.

"It was evident he was off," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "He was staying in the middle of the plate. But you still have to hit it -- they did -- and the game got away from us."

Eli Whiteside hit a solo home run and Aubrey Huff added a pair of hits for San Francisco, which has lost five consecutive games.

The Twins sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning. Revere led off with a single, followed by a double to left by Casilla. Joe Mauer hit a single and Cuddyer belted a double to left to plate the first two runs.

Minnesota poured it on from there. Delmon Young knocked in Mauer with a sharp single to center and Valencia smacked a double down the left field line to plate another run. Hughes ripped a two-run single to keep the inning going,.

Then, in his second at-bat of the inning, Revere ripped a double down the left field line that was bobbled by Cody Ross, allowing two more runs to score to make it 8-0.

Bumgarner was pulled in favor of Guillermo Mota after retiring only one batter. Mota got Mauer to line into a double play, finally stopping the bleeding for the Giants.

"I think it will help the focus of executing pitches for the rest of my career because now I know what happens when you don't," Bumgarner said of his outing. "I think that's one thing that will come from it."

San Francisco got on the board in the seventh, courtesy of Whiteside's second home run of the season. The Giants added a second run in the eighth on a two- out RBI single by Emmanuel Burriss.

Minnesota made it 9-2 in the ninth on Casilla's blast into the right field seats, his second home run of the year.

Game Notes

Bumgarner's streak of 10 consecutive quality starts was snapped...San Francisco returned home for Tuesday's contest after going 2-4 on a six-game road trip...Minnesota is 18-23 on the road this season and 4-3 in interleague play...San Francisco is 3-4 against American League opponents.