SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It's a record that comes through longevity, and Carlos Santana is happy to take it.
Santana's sixth-inning home run that put the Twins ahead to stay in their 4-2 win at San Francisco gives the veteran slugger homers in all 30 current major league ballparks.
Santana, who joined the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton and the Padres’ Manny Machado as the only active players to homer in all 30 current stadiums, said he was “blessed” to achieve the feat.
“God gave me all the opportunities in my career and I’ve played a long time — 15 years,” Santana said. “It’s very important for me and my family. It’s great. I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to be healthy and play hard.”
Santana said a lot of players are “scared” to hit at Oracle Park because of its bigger, pitcher-friendly dimensions, but Santana called it a “great ballpark.”
The big fly was a high, arching shot that stayed just fair down the left field line on a 79.7 miles-per-hour sweeper by former Twins reliever Taylor Rogers.
Santana paused in the right-hand hitter's batters box and watched as his shot hugged the line and didn't tail as it passed the left-field foul pole.
An umpire's video review upheld the home run.
The Twins added a run in the ninth on Ryan Jeffers’ double-play grounder. They have won five of seven, while the Giants have lost five of seven.
Cole Sands (4-1) got the victory, pitching a scoreless 1 2/3 innings after starter Simeon Woods Richardson allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings. Jhoan Duran finished for his 15th save.
Minnesota was without several key bats in Carlos Correa, José Miranda and Byron Buxton, who were all injured. Christian Vázquez made his first career start at third base.
“It doesn’t matter who’s on that field,” Richardson said. “We trust all of our guys. We have the extreme depth in our lineup to do anything. We’re very versatile.”
Minnesota scored twice on one hit in the fifth inning. Matt Wallner hit an RBI double following a leadoff hit-by-pitch, advanced to third on an error by right fielder Mike Yastrzemski and scored on Patrick Bailey’s passed ball.
Giants starter Hayden Birdsong allowed one earned run in five innings in his fourth career start. The 22-year-old is getting opportunities with the several starters such as Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray out. Manager Bob Melvin said whether Birdsong stays with the big club depends on timing of when other pitchers get healthy, but that he seems increasingly comfortable with each outing.
“There was a need for us,” Melvin said. “I’ve said often he’s only had a couple of starts in Triple-A and he’s come up here and performed pretty well for us. We have big expectations for him down the road. We’ll see how it works out when we start getting some guys back.”
Yastrzemski had an RBI single in the fourth, and Heliot Ramos tied it at 2 with another in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: Shortstop Carlos Correa was scratched an hour before the game because of a right heel contusion, while third baseman José Miranda is going to the injured list because of back problem. That forced the Twins to start Vazquez at third base, with Willi Castro at shortstop and Brooks Lee at second base. Vaquez had only one play, fielding a bunt in the first inning that went for an infield hit, while Lee made several sparklers on hard-hit ground balls. Infielder Diego Castillo will be called up from Triple-A St. Paul, manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game. Also out Saturday night was Byron Buxton who crashed into the center field wall trying to make a catch Friday.
UP NEXT
Giants lefty Blake Snell (0-3, 7.85 ERA) is scheduled start against Twins righthander Chris Paddack (5-3, 5.18 ERA) on Sunday in the series finale.