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Sandoval, Vogelsong help Giants edge Twins

May 25, 2014 - 6:28 AM San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Pablo Sandoval smacked a solo homer and drove in both San Francisco runs, while Ryan Vogelsong spun 6 2/3 strong frames, as the Giants secured a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in the middle contest of a three-game set Saturday at AT&T Park.

Sandoval homered for the second straight game in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth in support of Vogelsong (3-2), who struck out seven and scattered three hits with a walk over his scoreless outing.

"He's gotten his timing and he's got his confidence going and that usually comes with success," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said of Sandoval.

Juan Gutierrez and Jeremy Affeldt combined to keep the Twins off the board from there, but closer Sergio Romo served up Josmil Pinto's leadoff blast in the ninth to slice San Francisco's lead to one.

Romo quickly recovered, retiring the next three hitters in order to nail down his 16th save of the season and send San Francisco to its third straight win.

Minnesota starter Samuel Deduno (1-3) absorbed the loss after giving up two runs on four hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings.

Sandoval put the Giants on the board in the second inning when he laced a leadoff blast into the first row in left-center field.

The Giants third baseman helped extend the margin in the sixth, as Angel Pagan slapped a leadoff single and Hunter Pence walked before Buster Posey grounded into a fielder's choice that left runners on the corners.

Sandoval followed with a sac fly to right to make it 2-0.

In the ninth, Pinto punched a 2-2 fastball just over the wall down the left- field line to get the Twins on the board, but Romo grounded out Jason Kubel and fanned Eduardo Escobar before getting pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki to tap one back to the mound to end the game.

"We came in in the end against one of the better closer and put up a run against him and put up a fight and cut it back down to one run," Kubel said. "As long as we keep fighting every night, every day, we should have a lot more chances."

Game Notes

The Twins went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and have gone 0-for-14 with RISP in the series. They've also left 17 men on base in back-to-back losses to the Giants ... The Giants improved to 23-4 when scoring first this season ...Pence went 0-for-2 with two walks to snap his 10-game hit streak.