The Padres could once again were unable to capitalize in key situations, allowing American League bottom-feeder Minnesota look more like the division champions they were in 2010, sweeping San Diego in the three game weekend series at Target Field.

The sweep continued the Padres descent in the standings with a five game losing streak and falling 9.5 games behind first place San Francisco, who have lost four straight.

The loss also insured a losing trip, having lost five games with only three remaining in Boston. The Padres will face the American League’s hottest team in Fenway against an offense featuring the major league leader in batting average (.348) and RBI’s (63), first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Below is a recap of how the Friars fared in the twin cities over the weekend.

June 17^th, 2011 Twins 6, Padres 5

WP Brian Deunsing (4-6) 6IP 7H 2R 2ER 1BB 5K 0HR

LP Clayton Richard (2-9) 5IP 10H 6R 5ER 2BB 2K 1HR

S Matt Capps (10) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 0K 0HR

The Padres offense woke up on Friday night yet it was not enough as they fell to the Twins 6-5 at Target Field. The loss was their third straight after winning their first of this nine game road trip.

The Padres allowed five runs in an ugly first inning that involved two errors and a wild pitch before Danny Valencia’s three-run homer. Joe Mauer also hit a RBI single in his first at-bat since coming off the 60-day disabled list.

Chase Headley doubled to shallow right to get the Padres on the board, down 5-1.

But the Twins pushed the lead back to five with Ben Revere’s two-out single to shallow left field, scoring Jason Repko from second.

Headley had another RBI double in the fifth, this time scoring Chris Denorfia from third base. Chase went 4-5 with two RBIs.

Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the seventh after a pair of two-out singles from Jason Bartlett and Headley.

The Padres got a runner in scoring position with one out in the eighth but consecutive strikeouts by Nick Hundley and Alberto Gonzalez ended the threat. Hundley’s strikeout was his fourth of the game, earning him the dubious “Golden Sombrero.

Matt Capps pitched a perfect ninth for his 10^th save of the season.

June 18^th, 2011 Twins 1, Padres 0

WP Shane Baker (5-4) 8IP 4H 0R 0ER 1BB 10K 0HR

LP Tim Stauffer (2-5) 7IP 6H 1R 1ER 0BB 5K 1HR

S Matt Capps (11) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

Chris Denorfia led off the game with a line drive into the gap in right centerfield, putting the Padres 90 feet away from taking their first lead of the series. But after consecutive strikeouts by Jason Bartlett and Chase Headley, Ryan Ludwick took the ball deep to the warning track in left-center only to be tracked down by Ben Revere to end the inning.

Danny Valencia homered for the second straight day in the second inning, providing the Twins with all the offense they’ll need for a 1-0 victory over San Diego.

Shane Baker got himself above .500 in the win column with eight strong innings, surrendering no runs on four hits while fanning 10 Friars.

Baker got out of another jam in the top of the eighth after Will Venable led off the inning with a single and then advanced to second on a groundout. But Baker induced groundouts by Denorfia and Bartlett to strand the tying run at second base.

Matt Capps came in and pitched a perfect ninth for the second straight night, for his 11^th save in 2011.

June 19^th, 2011 Twins 5, Padres 4

WP Alex Burnett (2-4) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

LP Chad Qualls (3-3) 0.1IP 2H 1R 1ER 1BB 0K 0HR

Backup catcher Joe Butara singled in Delmon Young in the bottom of the ninth to rally the Twins to a sweep over the Padres. Young led the ninth off with a single before being sacrificed to second by Luke Hughes. After an intentional walk to reestablish the force play, Butara lined a shot in the 5.5 hole, that ricocheted off of a diving Chase Headley’s glove into shallow left allowing Young to cross home plate for the victory.

Minnesota first took the lead in the first inning with Alexi Casilla’s solo home ru n off Dustin Moseley with one out.

Three consecutive singles by Jason Bartlett, Chase Headley, and Ryan Ludwick tied the game in the fourth.

After loading the bases with one out the next inning Chris Denorfia hit a sacrifice fly to give the Padres their first lead of the series. Bud Black then called for a double steal by Will Venable and Rob Johnson putting both men in scoring position. Jason Bartlett then walked to reload the bases for Chase Headley, who singled to give the Padres a 3-1 lead. Ryan Ludwick then flied out to right field to end the inning with the Padres up 3-1.

That lead would hold until the seventh when Mike Cuddyer doubled to start the inning. After Delmon Young flew out to right, Moseley induced a groundball to Chase Headley that he airmailed over the head of first baseman Jesus Guzman to allowing Cuddyer to advance to third and the batter Hughes to move to second. Mike Adams then came in and got Tsuyoshi Nishioka to ground out to Jason Bartlett for the second out while allowing Cuddyer to score from third base. With two outs and a full count, Rob Johnson failed to hang on to a foul tip by pinch hitter Rene Tosini that would have eneded the inning. Tosini instead doubled down the right field line to tie the game. Mat Tolbert then doubled to left center, scoring Tosini to put the Twins back ahead 4-3.

But the Padres battled back in the eighth where they had runners at first and third with two out. Ron Gardenhire chose to intentionally walk Orlando Hudson to the left-handed will Venable face his left-hander Glenn Perkins. Venable singled to tie the game and give the Padres a chance for the lead. But Rob Johnson struck out swinging to end the inning.  Both the Twins and then Padres sent up the minimum three batters their next at-bats before Butara’s walk-off win in the ninth.