Twins 2, Padres 0: Phil Hughes pitched seven strong innings and Trevor Plouffe smashed a mammoth homer as visiting Minnesota completed a sweep of the two-game series.

Hughes (5-1) struck out seven without a walk and allowed seven hits in winning his fifth straight decision. Casey Fien worked a scoreless eighth and Glen Perkins tossed a perfect ninth for his American League-leading 14th save.

Chris Parmelee hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and the Twins added an insurance run in the eighth. Plouffe, who recorded two of Minnesota's four hits, belted a pitch from Dale Thayer into the second deck in left-center field to make it 2-0 as the Twins went on to defeat the Padres for the eighth consecutive time.

Joe Mauer drew a one-out walk from Tyson Ross (5-4) in the sixth and stole second. An infield single by Plouffe moved Mauer to third, and he scored easily on Parmelee’s fly to medium left field.

Seth Smith went 3-for-4 while Chase Headley and Cameron Maybin each registered two hits for San Diego. Ross, who struck out eight, was the hard-luck loser despite allowing just one run and three hits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Padres OF Carlos Quentin (groin) sat out for the second straight game. … Twins OF Sam Fuld (concussion) has yet to be cleared to resume baseball activities. … San Diego manager Bud Black will miss Thursday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs to see daughter Jessie graduate from the University of Maryland. Bench coach Dave Roberts and pitching coach Darren Balsley will split the duties of running the team.