in five (games) but you have to be realistic," he s

MINNEAPOLIS -- The book on Target Field so far has been dimensions that favour the pitchers. Perhaps the sample size is too small. Kennys Vargas has only played one game there, after all. Vargas hit a three-run homer in his first home game for Minnesota, powering the Twins past Jesse Hahn and the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Tuesday night. "I think Im going to be good here," Vargas said. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound first baseman told manager Ron Gardenhire before the game he believes the ball carries well here, and it sure did when Hahn threw Vargas a 1-1 curveball with two outs in the sixth inning. That was the first home run allowed by Hahn in 55 2-3 innings, since he made his debut for the Padres on June 3. "Just a bad pitch. I wish I had it back," said Hahn (7-3) who went 5 2-3 innings with four walks, an outlier in an otherwise-stellar stretch since joining the rotation two months ago. The crowd of 34,495 roared for Vargas, who looks and swings like former Twins slugger David Oritz. He was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. "I appreciate that. I play for the fans," the perpetually smiling Puerto Rican said. Vargas was so excited to swing, he took his bat to the outfield, instead of his glove, for shagging duty during early batting practice in the afternoon. Gardenhire was too amused by the rookies enthusiasm he could hardly scold him. "But that does tell you about what he likes to do," Gardenhire said. Phil Hughes had a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings to snap a three-start losing streak, and Glen Perkins earned his 28th save. The Padres, who came off a three-game sweep of Atlanta and had a National League-leading 78 runs entering the night since the All-Star break, left 11 men on base. Yonder Alonso, who has spent much of the summer on the disabled list, hit his first homer since June 7 but his drive to the upper deck in right field in the fifth inning was all the Padres put together against Hughes (11-8). "It happens. Weve just got to keep getting those guys on base," Alonso said. Hughes was removed after six innings and 99 pitches because of a cracked nail on his right index finger, a common side effect of his sharp curveball. "Take it easy on the bullpen days and use some super glue or whatever I have to do," Hughes said. "Usually its painful at the time, but it tends to grow out enough where its fine by my next start." SCHAFER SLIDES IN Jordan Schafer singled in his debut for the Twins on the first American League pitch he faced and stole second base before being thrown out when he overeagerly broke for third on Danny Santanas grounder to shortstop. Schafer, claimed off waivers from Atlanta, was in left field but will see plenty of time in centre, so the Twins can use Santana again at his natural shortstop position. The Twins have used six centre fielders this season, with former first-round draft pick Aaron Hicks, who was moved back up to Triple-A on Tuesday, unable to hold the job. TRAINERS ROOM Padres right-hander Andrew Cashner, on the disabled list with soreness in his right shoulder, will start a rehab assignment on Friday with Class A Lake Elsinore. Cashner has been limited by injuries to 12 starts this year. The Twins had their two highest-paid players, Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco who will make a combined $35 million this season, at Class A Cedar Rapids on Tuesday for rehab work. Mauer, out for more than a month with a strained muscle in his right side, went 1 for 3 as the designated hitter. Nolasco, coming back from a sore right elbow, threw 3 2-3 scoreless innings and will start again on Sunday. Mauer will likely rejoin the Twins at Houston next week. UP NEXT The Padres will give Odrisamer Despaigne (2-3, 2.68 ERA) his eighth career start in the finale of this two-game, 20-or-so-hour series. They are off on Thursday for the second time in four days, and Ian Kennedy will pitch the opener in Pittsburgh on Friday, followed by Eric Stults and Tyson Ross. The Twins will send Kevin Correia, who beat the Padres in San Diego in May, to the mound against his former team. They have yet to announce their starter for Saturday in Oakland, but recent acquisition Tommy Milone, who started on Tuesday for Triple-A Rochester, is a strong candidate for the spot. Wholesale China Jerseys . Chelsea took until the second half to trouble the leagues bottom team, but Schuerrle then ripped through the defence with ease at Craven Cottage to keep Jose Mourinhos side on track for the title. Jerseys NFL Authentic China . Canada will host the second stop on the circuit, the 2014 Skate Canada International in Kelowna, British Columbia from October 31 - November 2, 2014 at Prospera Place. http://www.cheapnfljerseys.pro/. Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. China NFL Jerseys Cheap . The world No. 1 had one of the most dominating performances in a final and was on his way to a possible shutout on Sunday until the third-seeded Berdych broke the super Serbs serve in the 12th game of the match. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Mike Vecchione tied it at 2 with 4:01 left in the first, Saskatoon native Eli Lichtenwald gave the Dutchman the lead 57 seconds later, and Daniel Ciampini capped the spree with 2:57 to go. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- Michael Hutchinson has been the difference-maker for the St. Johns IceCaps throughout the American Hockey League Eastern Conference final. Tuesdays Game 6 was no different. Hutchinson made 34 saves as St. Johns advanced to the Calder Cup final with a 5-0 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. "Hutchinson is playing really well right now and he played a strong game tonight," IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said. "He has done nothing but show he is a goaltender who is knocking on the door of the National Hockey League since we got him." The modest netminder credited his team with the shutout performance, saying the players in front of him played a great defensive game. "Fortunately the guys blocked a lot of shots, cleared rebounds and tied up sticks," Hutchinson said. "They really let me see the puck, and when I was able to see the puck I held onto it. It was a great team effort." Hutchinson added that winning the elimination game feels "unbelievable." "This is what you go for all season, to play for a championship," he said. "To get here is an unbelievable feeling, and to win on home ice makes it that much more special." McCambridge said the IceCaps were hoping the team would eliminatee the Penguins on the road, but he was happy with the Game 6 win.dddddddddddd "Everybody was disappointed that we were unable to close out the series in five (games) but you have to be realistic," he said. "Youre in the conference finals and its hard to close out (in five games), its rare. We said that if we were able to take two out of three in the oppositions building against a very good team, wed be happy with it." Eric ODell, Blair Riley, Adam Lowry, Jason Jaffray and Zach Redmond scored for St. Johns. The IceCaps opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 17:53 of the first period. ODell tipped a shot from Brenden Kichton in over the blocker of Penguins goalie Peter Mannino. Lowry doubled the IceCaps lead 3:24 into the second period, tapping in a Josh Morrissey feed that found the forward in front of the net. Riley tipped a point shot five-hole to extend the IceCaps lead to three at the 2:23 mark of the third period. Redmond scored a fourth for St. Johns with a wrist shot from the point while Jaffray screened Mannino at 5:21. Jaffray added an empty-net goal with 47.5 seconds left. Mannino made 25 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. St. Johns will play the Texas Stars, who beat the Toronto Marlies in Game 7 Tuesday, for the AHL championship. ' ' '