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Return Home Does Giants No Good, Twins Pitch Shutout in Win

SAN FRANCISCO — Ervin Santana pitched a four-hitter for his third shutout of the season and hit a three-run double in another stellar bounce-back start, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

Santana (8-3) recovered from a seven-run shelling last Saturday against the Angels to shut down the Giants in an efficient 91-pitch outing. He struck out five, walked one and started 26 of the 31 batters he faced with first-pitch strikes.

Santana has allowed at least five runs in three starts this season and followed all of them with scoreless outings, including two game shutouts.

Matt Moore (2-7) allowed four runs in six innings to extend his winless streak to five starts. The Giants have lost eight of 11 overall and have just three wins in Moore's 13 starts this season.

San Francisco barely even threatened against Santana other than getting a leadoff triple from Aaron Hill in the third. But Santana recovered to get Austin Slater on a groundout to first, Moore on a tapper in front of the plate and Denard Span on a groundout to end the inning.

The Twins then broke it open in the fourth thanks to Santana's bat. With runners on first and second and two outs, Moore walked No. 8 hitter Jason Castro to load the bases. Santana followed with a fly ball to right center that fell just in front of a diving Span to clear the bases and put Minnesota up 4-0.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Twins: INF Jorge Polanco won't re-join the team until the Twins return home Monday. Polanco left the team earlier this week following the death of his grandfather and is on the bereavement list.

Giants: Ace Madison Bumgarner threw off the mound in the bullpen for the first time since being sidelined with shoulder and rib injuries following a dirt bike accident April 20 in Colorado. He threw 20 pitches. ... INF Orlando Calixte was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to make room for RHP Sam Dyson, who was acquired from Texas earlier this week.

HITTING PITCHER

The Twins are one of three teams (Oakland, Angels) who haven't gotten a homer from a pitcher since the start of the DH era in 1973. But Santana still delivered a big hit, doubling his career RBI total in one swing. It marked the first time a Minnesota pitcher drove in three runs in a game since Luis Tiant on May 28, 1970, against Milwaukee.

UP NEXT

Jose Berrios (4-1, 2.76 ERA) looks to earn his second win on this trip when the Twins take on Jeff Samardzija (2-7, 4.29) and the Giants in the middle game of the series.

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