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Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 8, Chi. Cubs 7
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, June 8, 2012
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 89°
Umpires: Home - Gary Darling, 1B - Paul Emmel, 2B - Scott Barry, 3B - Jerry Meals
Attendance: 38014

Twins 8, Cubs 7 (10): Josh Willingham singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as host Minnesota edged Chicago in the series opener.

Willingham, who scored the tying run in the ninth on Justin Morneau's RBI triple, drilled a single down the third-base line against a five-man infield to plate Darin Mastroianni as the Twins came from behind on three occasions to win for the eighth time in 10 games.

Trevor Plouffe and Ryan Doumit each homered and Mastroianni had two hits and two RBIs as Minnesota dropped the Cubs to 1-7 on their 10-game road trip. Matt Capps (1-3) worked the 10th for the win.

Alfonso Soriano went 3-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs while Starlin Castro homered and drove in a pair of runs for the Cubs, who blew leads of 2-0, 5-2 and 7-6.

Mastroianni drew a leadoff walk off Shawn Camp (2-3) in the 10th, was sacrificed to second by Ben Revere and moved to third on Jamey Russell's infield single to set the stage for Willingham, who has hit safely in 11 straight games.

Soriano's second homer, a towering two-run shot in the eighth, put the Cubs ahead 7-6. Morneau's first triple of the season tied it to force extra innings.

Both starting pitchers were done after five innings. Chicago's Travis Wood allowed three runs on six hits while Minnesota's P.J. Walters was charged with five runs on eight hits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Twins C Joe Mauer sat out his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right thumb. He took batting practice Friday and could return to the lineup Saturday. CF Denard Span didn't start due to flu-like symptoms but came on as a pinch runner in the ninth. ... Soriano's first homer was the 350th of his career. His 11 homers since May 15 are the most in the major leagues. He also had his first multi-homer game since swatting two in Pittsburgh on Aug. 2, 2011. ... Willingham extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Target Field is the 120th different ballpark in which the Cubs have played dating to 1876.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. Cubs   Minnesota
Travis Wood Player P.J. Walters
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.0
3 Strikeouts 2
6 Hits 8
5.40 ERA 9.00
Hitting
Chi. Cubs   Minnesota
Alfonso Soriano Player Ben Revere
3 Hits 3
3 RBI 0
2 HR 0
9 TB 3
.600 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. Cubs 14 3 27 .341 16 4 7 1 0 1
Minnesota 16 2 28 .400 23 7 8 7 2 0