Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Danny Santana went 4-for-5 with five RBI to guide the Minnesota Twins to an 8-0 victory over the Houston Astros in the middle tilt of a three-game set at Target Field on Saturday.
Kyle Gibson (5-5) was just as impressive, firing seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball with a season-high five strikeouts to notch just his second win in nine starts.
Josh Willingham and Chris Parmelee each drove in a run for the Twins, who snapped a two-game losing skid.
"He's swinging it really good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Santana. "He came up in some big situations and was really driving the ball."
Houston starter Scott Feldman (3-4) lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing three unearned runs on one hit with two walks.
Dexter Fowler accounted for two of the five hits for Houston, which had its two-game winning streak come to an end.
The Twins took advantage of two Astros' errors in the second to start the scoring.
Willingham was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Trevor Plouffe reached on third baseman Matt Dominguez's fielding error and Kurt Suzuki worked a one-out walk to load the bases. Aaron Hicks reached first on shortstop Marwin Gonzalez's fielding error, allowing Willingham to score. Santana's two-out base hit to right drove in two to make it 3-0.
"Our defense didn't help us," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "(Feldman) did have trouble commanding the strike zone today, but defensively we didn't help ourselves with two plays we usually make."
Houston reliever Paul Clemens walked two to begin the fourth and Hicks' sacrifice bunt moved advanced the runners. Santana laced a two-run double to center to score Suzuki and Eduardo Escobar. Willingham's two-out single to left scored Brian Dozier from second and two consecutive walks made it a 7-0 game.
Santana singled to center in the seventh to increase the cushion to 8-0 scoring Suzuki, who reached on a base hit.
Game Notes
Houston finished 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight men on base ... Clemens allowed four runs on two hits and five walks in just two innings of relief ... The Twins are 17-11 all-time against the Astros.
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