SAN DIEGO — All-Star Byron Buxton hit a tying homer in the fourth inning off Joe Musgrove, and Carlos Correa gave Minnesota some breathing room with a two-run shot during a five-run eighth that helped the Twins beat the San Diego Padres 7-4 on Saturday.
The Twins handed Musgrove (8-4) his fourth straight loss. Musgrove, who earned his first All-Star selection this year, and the Padres are on the cusp of finalizing a $100 million, five-year contract that would start next year.
The Padres got a bad break in the seventh. Trailing 2-1 and with rookie C.J. Abrams at second base on a one-out infield single and throwing error by shortstop Correa, Jurickson Profar’s sharp grounder hit second base umpire Jerry Layne, rolled several feet away and was ruled a dead ball.
Abrams almost certainly would have scored had Profar's ball gone through the infield, but he had to stay at second. Manny Machado struck out and Eric Hosmer popped up to end the inning.
Correa then homered to straightaway center field with one out in the eighth off Adrian Morejon for a 4-1 lead. It was his 13th. The Twins added on with an RBI single by Jose Miranda, a run-scoring double by Nick Gordon and a throwing error by Abrams to make it 7-1.
San Diego's Jurickson Profar hit a three-run homer off Tyler Duffey with one out in the ninth, his 10th.
Sonny Gray (6-3) allowed a solo home run to All-Star Manny Machado with two outs in the third, but otherwise kept the Padres in check through five innings. San Diego hit five home runs in a 10-1 rout Friday night, including a two-run shot by Machado. Gray allowed five hits while striking out five and walking one.
Musgrove hasn't won since June 16 at the Chicago Cubs. He allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, struck out eight and walked two.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: Placed OF Max Kepler (broken right toe) and INF Miguel Sanó (left knee inflammation) on the 10-day injured list. Sanó had returned just four days earlier after missing 75 games following surgery in May to repair torn meniscus in the knee. Kepler was hurt when he was hit by a pitch at Detroit last Sunday. To take their spots on the roster, the Twins recalled outfielder Mark Contreras and selected the contract of infielder Tim Beckham from Triple-A St. Paul.
UP NEXT
Twins RHP Dylan Bundy (6-4, 5.02 ERA) and Padres LHP Sean Manaea (5-5, 4.33) are scheduled to start Sunday's series finale.
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