Notes from Friday’s game: The Twins have won 12 of their last 14 overall games including five straight…they are now 1-3 in Interleague play this season and their 141 Interleague wins are the fifth-most in baseball…the Twins have now won four straight games vs. the Padres, outscoring them 22-12 in those games.

· Since June 2, Twins starters have posted an ERA of 1.87 (96.1 ip, 20 er) with 16 walks and 61 strikeouts.

· Brian Duensing has thrown at least 6.0 innings in 20 of his last 25 starts dating back to July 28, 2010…he is 8-4, 3.13 (100.1 ip, 35 er) in 35 games (12 starts) at Target Field…this was his second career Interleague starts and he is now 0-1, 5.25 (12.0 ip, 7 er) in those starts.

· Joe Mauer played his first game since April 12 after being reinstated from the 60-day DL and went 1-for-4 with an rbi single in the first inning.

· Michael Cuddyer is batting .336 (37-for-110) with 19 runs, six doubles, seven home runs, 23 rbi and 11 walks in his last 29 games dating back to May 14th.

· Cuddyer is batting .319 (30-for-94) with five homers, 14 rbi, 12 walks and 16 runs scored in 26 games at Target Field and .379 (25-for-66) with four doubles, six homers, 11 rbi and 12 walks vs. LHP this season.

· Danny Valencia hit his second home run vs. a lefthander this season when he hit a three-run shot in the first inning…it was his sixth homer of the season and first since May 21 at Arizona, a span of 90 plate appearances between home runs…Valencia has a career batting average of .305 (11-for-36) with a double, three homers and eight rbi in 13 career Interleague games.

· Tsuyoshi Nishioka now has four errors in eight games with the Twins…he has hit safely in six of his eight games played.

· Alexi Casilla is batting .386 (27-for-70) with 16 runs scored in 24 games at Target Field this season…this was his 12th multi-hit game at home.

· Alex Burnett gave up his first home run of the season and first since Sept. 24, 2010 at Detroit…the three runs allowed were the most by Burnett since Sept. 30, 2010 vs. Toronto.

· Glen Perkins returned from the 15-day DL to pitch a scoreless eighth inning with a hit and two strikeouts.

· Capps has saved 10-of-15 save opportunities this season…he has saved five of six opportunities in his career vs. the Padres.

· The Twins recorded their 20th sellout of the season with an attendance of 39,205 tonight.

PADRES NOTES:

· The Padres made their first visit to Target Field and their first trip to Minnesota since June 17-19, 2005…they are now 1-3 in Minnesota and 3-7 in 10 total games vs. the Twins…San Diego is now 97-131 overall in Interleague play, 0-4 in 2011 and have lost five consecutive games dating back to last season.

· San Diego is 11-11 in their last 22 games…they are 6-10 in June and have dropped six of seven and eight of their last 11 games…43 of the Padres 71 games this season have been decided by two runs-or-less, including seven of the last 10 games…they are 10-13 in one-run games this season.

· Clayton Richard is 0-4, 4.18 (23.2 ip, 11 er) in four starts so far in June…he has tied his career-high with nine losses this season with the nine losses coming in his last 11 starts and getting just 15 runs of support in those game.

· Chase Headley (4-for-5) has hit safely in 20 if his last 25 games…this was his 18th multi-hit game, third with 3-or-more-hits and second 4-hit game of the season…he is now batting .538 (7-for-13) with a homer and three rbi in Interleague play this season.

· Pat Neshek made his debut vs. his former club, coming on in relief with two on and no outs in the sixth inning…he threw a scoreless inning with one walk.

· Jesus Guzman made his first appearance in the majors since October 10, 2009 at San Diego as a member of the Giants…it was his first career ML game in the outfield after playing seven games as an outfielder for AAA Tucson…he had a career-high two hits in the game.

· Ryan Ludwick hit his first home run since May 18 vs. Milwaukee…it was his seventh career homer vs. the Twins and first since April 16, 2005…he has hit safely in 28 of his last 34 games since May 11, batting .339 (42-for-124) with five homers and 29 rbi in that span…he has also hit safely in 12 of his last 16 road games.

· The Padres made three errors in tonight’s game matching their season-high, done two times previously, last June 2.

PITCHING LINES:

WINNING PITCHER: Duensing (4-6, 4.82)

LOSING PITCHER:  Richard (2-9, 4.35)

SAVE:  Capps (10)

FIRST PITCH:  7:12 pm              GAME TIME TEMP:  81, winds from E-SE at 14 mph        TIME OF GAME:  2:53                     ATTENDANCE:  39, 205

HOME RUNS:  Valencia (6, off Richard, first inning, two on, one out, 2-0 pitch, 410 feet to left field)

Ludwick (9, off Burnett, seventh inning, two on, two out, 0-0 pitch, 405 feet to left field)

Photo by Bryan Singer