Carlos Santana's solo homer powers Twins to win over Giants

Santana hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning in the Twins' narrow victory.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson (78) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 13, 2024. / Ed Szczepański / USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Santana hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning off former Twins reliever Taylor Rogers as the Twins beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 Saturday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Tied 2-2 in the sixth inning, Santana took a sweeper from Rogers 361 feet to the edge of left field to put Minnesota up a run. Twins relievers did the rest as Cole Sands, Jorge Alcala, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings to preserve the one-run advantage.

Sands picked up the victory to improve to 4-1 after tossing 1 2/3 hitless innings, and Duran picked up the save, his 15th of the year, after sending the Giants down in order in the ninth inning.

The Twins added an insurance run in the ninth inning when they loaded the bases with no outs. Ryan Jeffers then grounded into a double play, allowing Christian Vazquez, who led off the inning with a single, to score and extend the Minnesota advantage to 4-2.

The Twins (54-41) took a 2-0 lead during the fourth inning when Matt Wallner doubled and took third on an error that also allowed Jeffers — who was hit by a pitch — to score. A few at-bats later, Wallner was able to come around and score on an error, too, on a ball that got past the catcher, Bailey. 

The Giants (46-50) got within a run when Mike Yastrzemski hit an RBI infield single in the bottom of the fourth, but Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson left two stranded to preserve a Twins’ lead.

San Francisco did, however, knot the game during the fifth inning when Heliot Ramos hit an RBI single that scored Jorge Soler, who led off the frame with a double, and that's when Woods Richardson's day came to an end. He allowed just the two runs off seven hits while fanning seven across 4 1/3 innings. Giants starter Hayden Birdsong allowed two runs off two hits while fanning three across five.

The Twins and Giants meet for the finale of their three-game series at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday.