MINNEAPOLIS _ Joe Mauer and Eduardo Escobar batted Tuesday night with their mugshots on the videoboard on top of Wild jerseys. Each had a missing tooth for effect.
When a Twins player hit a home run, a horn went off similar to the one used at Xcel Energy Center when the Wild score.
The Twins might want to stick with that horn.
It was Wild Night at Target Field. While the Twins recognized the State of Hockey, they turned Target Field into a launching pad while smashing San Diego, 16-0.
As actual Wild players Mikael Granlund, Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin looked on from a suite, the Twins really took it to the Padres. They belted a season-high seven home runs _ one each in the first seven innings, an MLB first. Two were from Jason Castro, the fourth multi-homer game of his career.
And let's go over the home runs. Brian Dozier lead off game with a home run, his 30th of the season. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run shot in the second. Castro hit a two run homer in the third. Eddie Rosario hit a two run-home blast in the fourth. Castro added his second homer, a solo shot in the fifth, and Eduardo Escobar tried to hit one to First Avenue in the sixth, settling for a 427-foot bomb.
Then Kennys Vargas added a three run missile in the seventh.
That's a home run in each of the first seven innings.
After going 3-4 on their recently-completed road trip, the Twins needed to start their homestand with a positive step. And they did so while battering a Padres team that had just taken two of three from Arizona, one of the hottest teams in the majors.
The Twins are playing with a lot on the line these days, but manager Paul Molitor has remained even-keeled. He's rarely showed emotion when the Twins have played well and not panicked amidst losing streaks. His team has rewarded him by holding on to the second wild-card spot with just over two weeks to go in the regular season.
That has given the town something else to talk about other than the Vikings offensive line.
"Not going to get too far ahead of ourselves," Molitor said before the game. "Not going to get too absorbed in the teams and schedules and wins and losses. It's one of those things where you focus on your own team and find a way to win as many games as you can.
"I feel we are playing good baseball. Obviously, there are going to be some games that don't go your way. Like I said Sunday, with 19 games to go, you are going to see some turns here. So you have to stay strong because the next day is going to present a new opportunity."
The Twins chased Padres starter Travis Wood in the third inning, but before he was charged with nine runs on nine hits and three home runs. The onslaught continued on reliever Jose Valdez, who gave up three runs over 2 2/3 innings, including two home runs.
Corey Mazzoni was next. He gave up Escobar's blast in the sixth and a three-run homer by Kenny Vargas in the seventh that was estimated by the Twins at 430 feet.
Soon after that, the Twins were on the horn to the Elias Sports Bureau, trying to find out the last time a team has homered in the first seven innings of a game.
It allowed Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson to have the easiest of trips. He cruised through six shutout innings, giving up four hits while striking out six. He lowered his ERA to 4.97 on the season, the lowest it's been all season.
