MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins stole four bases and had as many hits as runs in Wednesday afternoon's weird and wild 7-1 victory over a generous San Francisco team at Target Field.
The Giants threw a wild pitch, hit a batter and committed three errors in the third inning alone with two outs.
The Twins also stole those four bases, including a third-inning double steal in which Willi Castro successfully stole home.
The Twins scored their seven runs on seven hits while the Giants' 10 hits scored but one run.
Joe Ryan (7-1) picked up the win, although he threw 107 pitches in five innings, and Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers homered.
The Twins won without injured Carlos Correa and Joey Gallo in the lineup. They scored once in the first, twice in the second and third innings, once in the fourth and again in the sixth against a Giants team that had seven baserunners — including the first two to lead off the game — and stranded six of them in the first three innings.
They also had just one hit in their first nine at-bats on an afternoon and had committed those three errors in that third inning.
Giants second baseman Brett Wisely was charged with both a throwing and a fielding error in the inning.
All of it inspired famed Giants radio voice Jon Miller to call the Twins' two third-inning runs "extremely unearned runs."
By the end of four innings, the Giants were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Ryan surrendered a leadoff single to LaMonte Wade Jr. and a double to Thairo Estrada to start the game, then retired the next three batters to get out of the inning without a run scored.
The Twins needed only Giants two pitches to score their first run, leadoff hitter Julien's opposite-field home run to left on an 0-1 pitch.
Recalled from Class AAA St. Paul, Julien's homer was his third this season and his first career leadoff homer. It was also the Twins' third leadoff homer this season, with currently injured Max Kepler hitting the first two.
The Giants tied the score at 1-1 when center fielder Mike Yastrzemski doubled to start the second inning and scored on third baseman Casey Schmitt's single right after him. But the Twins avoided any more damage later in the inning when Julien with the infield up fielded Wade's grounder and threw out Schmitt at home.
The Giants loaded the bases in their sixth inning with nobody out and still couldn't get a run across against Twins relievers Brock Stewart and Jovani Moran after Ryan had gone the first five innings.
Stewart allowed his first three batters on base before he struck out Estrada and got Mitch Haniger to pop up before Moran came on to get slugger Michael Conforto on a ground out — all in the heart of the Giants' batting order.
Jeffers' solo blast off the left field's second-deck facing in the bottom of the sixth extended the lead to 7-1.
