Harris, Buscher lead Twins to 7th straight win

[June 25, 2008]  SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher hit solo home runs on consecutive pitches against Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, and the Minnesota Twins beat the slumping San Diego Padres 3-1 Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory.

Harris connected on the first pitch after Hoffman (1-5) struck out his first two batters. Buscher, recalled from the minors on June 13, hit his first homer of the season into the right-field seats.

When Hoffman got the final out in the ninth, he was serenaded with boos from the home crowd. Hoffman, baseball's career saves leader with 539, has given up five home runs in 26 innings. Last season, he allowed just two homers in 57 1-3 innings.

The victory extended Minnesota's longest winning streak in nearly two years. The Twins had an eight-game run in July 2006.

San Diego lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Denny Reyes (2-0) got the final out of the eighth inning for the win. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 22 chances.

Minnesota's Kevin Slowey barely outpitched reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. Slowey shut down the Padres on four hits over six scoreless innings. The right-hander struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

Slowey retired 14 straight after allowing consecutive two-out singles in the first. The string was broken on Jody Gerut's one-hop infield single that bounced off Slowey's glove with one out in the sixth.

Peavy nearly matched Slowey but allowed a first-inning run on Michael Cuddyer's RBI single. Peavy allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

Twins slugger Justin Morneau, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, extended his hitting streak to 12 games

Minnesota scored in the first after Alexi Casilla reached on a one-out double. Morneau was walked with two outs and Cuddyer followed with a run-scoring single to right.

Jesse Crain was protecting a 1-0 lead in the seventh when he took over for Slowey. Adrian Gonzalez led off with an infield single and went to second on a wild pitch. Kevin Kouzmanoff singled him to third and Gonzalez scored on Chase Headley's groundout to tie the score 1-all.

Peavy made his third start since coming off the disabled list June 12. He had been sidelined with a strained elbow.

Peavy has the best home ERA in the majors at 1.29. He has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his seven home starts, including three outings in which he did not allow a run.

Notes: Hoffman has now faced every major league team. ... It was the first time in seven games that the Twins' starting pitcher did not get a win. In the last seven games, Minnesota's starters are 6-0 with a 1.53 ERA. ... Padres RF Brian Giles was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Friday. Giles had missed two starts due to a strained hamstring. ... The Twins activated INF Nick Punto from the 15-day DL before the game and optioned INF Matt Macri to Triple-A Rochester.

[Associated Press; By HOWARD ULMAN]

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