SAN DIEGO -- Phil Hughes continued his impressive run, turning in his sixth straight quality start, to outduel Tyson Ross and lead the Twins to a 2-0 win over the Padres on Wednesday night at Petco Park.Hughes tossed seven scoreless innings, scattering seven hits and striking out seven, while not issuing a walk for his fifth straight start. The right-hander improved to 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA over his last six starts, and 5-1 with a 3.15 ERA on the season. He's also struck out 30 and walked just one over 39 1/3 innings in his last six outings.The Padres simply didn't have many chances against Hughes, who was dominant and only found himself in trouble a few times on the night. 
San Diego's best scoring opportunity against Hughes came in the sixth, when Chase Headley and Yonder Alonso singled with nobody out. Jedd Gyroko grounded into a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners with just one out but Hughes was able to get out of the jam. Hughes struck out Will Venable on eight pitches before getting Cameron Maybin to ground out to short on a first-pitch cutter.Ross was also solid for the Padres, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, but the right-hander was saddled with the hard-luck loss.The Twins scored their lone run against Ross in the sixth with Joe Mauer starting the rally with a one-out walk. Mauer then stole second base with Trevor Plouffe at the plate for his second stolen base of the season.Plouffe reached on an infield single to put runners at first and third with one out, and Chris Parmelee came through with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Mauer from third. Plouffe also reached third on the play, as he tried to advance to second on the throw home, which was cut off by Headley, but the throw to second skipped into the outfield. Plouffe, though, was stranded at third, as Jason Kubel flied out left to end the inning.Minnesota added an insurance run in the eighth on a solo shot from Plouffe off reliever Dale Thayer. It was Plouffe's third of the year, and came on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.Reliever Casey Fien threw a scoreless eighth for the Twins before closer Glen Perkins tossed a scoreless ninth to get his 14th save. It gave the Twins a two-game sweep of the Padres, and they improved to 23-21 to go two games above .500 for the first time this year.Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com
San Diego's best scoring opportunity against Hughes came in the sixth, when Chase Headley and Yonder Alonso singled with nobody out. Jedd Gyroko grounded into a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners with just one out but Hughes was able to get out of the jam. Hughes struck out Will Venable on eight pitches before getting Cameron Maybin to ground out to short on a first-pitch cutter.Ross was also solid for the Padres, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, but the right-hander was saddled with the hard-luck loss.The Twins scored their lone run against Ross in the sixth with Joe Mauer starting the rally with a one-out walk. Mauer then stole second base with Trevor Plouffe at the plate for his second stolen base of the season.Plouffe reached on an infield single to put runners at first and third with one out, and Chris Parmelee came through with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Mauer from third. Plouffe also reached third on the play, as he tried to advance to second on the throw home, which was cut off by Headley, but the throw to second skipped into the outfield. Plouffe, though, was stranded at third, as Jason Kubel flied out left to end the inning.Minnesota added an insurance run in the eighth on a solo shot from Plouffe off reliever Dale Thayer. It was Plouffe's third of the year, and came on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.Reliever Casey Fien threw a scoreless eighth for the Twins before closer Glen Perkins tossed a scoreless ninth to get his 14th save. It gave the Twins a two-game sweep of the Padres, and they improved to 23-21 to go two games above .500 for the first time this year.Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com
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