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 "You work your butt off, and it really stinks to be in that
situation," the right-handed starter said Tuesday night after a pair
of wild pitches led to the tying and go-ahead runs in the Minnesota
Twins' 5-3 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
As if winning the game thanks to two errant pitches weren't enough,
the Twins final run featured a bizarre twist. Catcher Kurt Suzuki
reached the seats in left with an eighth-inning line drive, but he
raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run after second
base umpire Andy Fletcher ruled the ball in play.
"Everyone in our dugout knew the ball was out," Twins manager Ron
Gardenhire said. "But Kurt got around the bases anyway, so I wasn't
going to challenge it. You never know what could have happened."
"Interesting, very weird," said Suzuki of his first inside-the-park
homer at any level. "I thought for sure it went out. I just kept
running. I got towards third base and I said, 'Shoot, I might as
well keep going.' Joe Joe (third base coach Joe Vavra) kept waving
me home, so I said, 'Maybe I got a chance.'"
Replays showed Suzuki's two-out drive hit the first row of seats
after barely clearing the glove of Padres left fielder Seth Smith.
Fletcher signaled the ball in play after it ricocheted back onto the
field.
Former Padre and San Diego County native Kevin Correia (2-5)
returned home to allow three runs on four hits and a walk over six
innings to snap a personal two-game losing streak.
However, the keys to the Twins' win at the start of a five-game
interleague trip were the wild pitches delivered by Kennedy.
"I made two pitches in the dirt that cost us a couple runs," Kennedy
said.
In the sixth, Kennedy (2-6) seemed about ready to strand the tying
run at third when a wild pitch allowed third baseman Trevor Plouffe
to score with two outs. Plouffe led off the inning with a double and
advanced to third on a groundout. Kennedy struck out Suzuki for the
second out before throwing the wild pitch.
An inning later, shortstop Eduardo Escobar walked to open the
inning. He moved to second on a bunt and advanced third on a wild
pitch. He scored the go-ahead run on pinch hitter Josmil Pinto's
sacrifice fly to right.
Correia retired the first 12 Padres he faced and took a 2-0 lead
into the bottom of the fifth. By the time the inning was over, the
Twins were trailing.
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Third baseman Chase Headley opened the inning by doubling into the
right field corner to end Correia's bid for perfection. Center
fielder Will Venable singled Headley to third, and slumping second
baseman Jedd Gyorko grounded a single to left to put the Padres on
the board.
Venable advanced to third and Gyorko to second on first baseman
Yonder Alonso's fly to the wall in right. Venable then scored to tie
the game on catcher Yasmani Grandal's sacrifice fly to left.
Kennedy helped his cause by scoring Gyorko from second with a
two-out single to center.
Right fielder Chris Parmelee homered leading off the second to give
the Twins a 1-0 lead. Minnesota made it 2-0 in the third on
Plouffe's RBI single.
Kennedy averted further damage in the third when he got Suzuki to
ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Padres wasted a golden opportunity in their half of the seventh
when Gyorko opened the inning with a single and Alonso drew a walk
to put the tying and go-ahead runs on with no outs. However, pinch
hitter Cameron Maybin, possibly the Padres' best bunter, couldn't
get down a sacrifice bunt, and he flied out. Right-handed reliever
Jared Burton retired the next two hitters to end San Diego's final
threat.
Minnesota closer Glen threw a perfect ninth inning for his 13th
save.
NOTES: Padres RHP Andrew Cashner underwent an MRI exam Monday that
showed no structural damage in his right elbow and forearm. "We all
feel pretty good about Cash's MRI," manager Bud Black said. Cashner
went on the 15-day disabled list Saturday after feeling discomfort
in the elbow. ... The Twins recalled C/OF Chris Herrmann from
Rochester and optioned RHP Michael Tonkin to the Triple-A club. ...
The Padres are hoping the groin injury LF Carlos Quentin sustained
Sunday in Denver is not serious enough to return him to the disabled
list. Quentin missed the first 39 games of the season on the
disabled list with a bone bruise to his left knee, and he didn't
play Tuesday.
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