Carlos Santana homers to break 6th-inning tie, the Twins beat the Giants 4-2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carlos Santana homered to break a sixth-inning tie — a shot down the left-field line that survived a review to give him home runs in all 30 current major league ballparks — and the Minnesota Twins beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Saturday night.

The 38-year-old Santana hit the solo shot off Taylor Rodgers (1-3) for his 13th of the season and 314th overall. He also singled and walked twice.

Santana, who joined the Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton and the Padres' Manny Machado as the only active players to homer in all 30 current stadiums, said he was “blessed” to achieve the feat. Santana said a lot of players are “scared” to hit at Oracle Park because of its bigger, pitcher-friendly dimensions, but Santana called it a “great ballpark.”

“God gave me all the opportunities in my career and I've played a long time — 15 years,” Santana said. “It’s very important for me and my family. It’s great. I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to be healthy and play hard.”

The Twins added a run in the ninth on Ryan Jeffers' double-play grounder. They have won five of seven, while the Giants have lost five of seven.

Cole Sands (4-1) got the victory, pitching a scoreless 1 2/3 innings after starter Simeon Woods Richardson allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings. Jhoan Duran finished for his 15th save.

Minnesota was without several key bats in Carlos Correa, José Miranda and Byron Buxton, who were all injured. Christian Vázquez made his first career start at third base.

"It doesn’t matter who’s on that field," Richardson said. “We trust all of our guys. We have the extreme depth in our lineup to do anything. We’re very versatile."

Minnesota scored twice on one hit in the fifth inning. Matt Wallner hit an RBI double following a leadoff hit-by-pitch, advanced to third on an error by right fielder Mike Yastrzemski and scored on Patrick Bailey's passed ball.

Giants starter Hayden Birdsong allowed one earned run in five innings in his fourth career start. The 22-year-old is getting opportunities with the several starters such as Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray out. Manager Bob Melvin said whether Birdsong stays with the big club depends on timing of when other pitchers get healthy, but that he seems increasingly comfortable with each outing.

“There was a need for us,” Melvin said. “I’ve said often he’s only had a couple of starts in Triple-A and he’s come up here and performed pretty well for us. We have big expectations for him down the road. We’ll see how it works out when we start getting some guys back.”

Yastrzemski had an RBI single in the fourth, and Heliot Ramos tied it at 2 with another in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: SS Carlos Correa was scratched an hour before the game because of a right heel contusion. … 3B José Miranda (back) will be placed on the injured list before Sunday's game, and IF Diego Castillo will be called up from Triple-A St. Paul, manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game. … OF Byron Buxton also was out of the lineup after crashing into the wall trying to make a catch Friday.

Giants: 1B LaMonte Wade Jr. was not in the lineup due to hamstring soreness, but did pinch hit in the ninth. He recently returned from a hamstring strain, though manager Bob Melvin indicated he would likely be in the lineup Sunday. … RHP Austin Warren (elbow) was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and options to Triple-A Sacramento.

UP NEXT

Giants LHP Blake Snell (0-3, 7.85 ERA) is scheduled start against Twins RHP Chris Paddack (5-3, 5.18 ERA) on Sunday in the series finale.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers, right, scores next to San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, left, on Matt Wallner's double during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Mike Yastrzemski, right, hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Heliot Ramos hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, left, tags out Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro, right, who was attempting to steal third during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants pitcher Sean Hjelle throws to a Minnesota Twins batter during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Twins pitcher Jhoan Duran throws to a San Francisco Giants batter during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Twins shortstop Willi Castro, left, and second baseman Brooks, right, Lee hug after their victory over the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

From left to right, Minnesota Twins outfielders Trevor Larnach, Manuel Margot and Max Kepler celebrate after their victory over the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Twins' Carlos Santana (30) celebrates with third base coach/outfield coach Tommy Watkins (40) after hitting a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Twins' Carlos Santana (30) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady Thursday as Wall Street counts down to what’s supposed to be the main event of the week, a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell coming on Friday.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in morning trading, just 0.6% below its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Treasury yields were rising in the bond market following some mixed data on the U.S. economy, which has been slowing under the weight of high interest rates meant to get inflation under control.

One report showed slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. The number is still low relative to history, but the uptick could signal a job market that continues to cool.

A second report, meanwhile, suggested U.S. business activity remains deeply split. Growth for services businesses is accelerating, according to preliminary data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. But the country's manufacturing, which has been one of the areas of the economy hit hardest by high interest rates, appears to be contracting at an even more severe rate.

Overall, the data suggested the U.S. economy is still growing but points to some fragility.

“Growth has become increasingly dependent on the service sector as manufacturing, which often leads the economic cycle, has fallen into decline,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The Fed has pulled its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of slowing the economy by just enough to stifle inflation but not so much that it causes a recession. With inflation slowing, the wide expectation is for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, which would be the first such easing since the COVID crash of 2020.

That’s why so much attention is on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Powell will be speaking Friday at an annual economic symposium that’s been home to big Fed policy announcements in the past. The hope is Powell will give clues about how quickly and deeply the Fed may cut rates to ease conditions for the economy.

In the meantime, U.S. companies continue to report mostly better-than-expected profits for the springtime.

Agilent Technologies rose 1.1% after delivering both profit and revenue for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ forecasts. CEO Padraig McDonnell said market conditions continued to be challenging for the company, which sells instruments and software for laboratories, but “we saw steady signs of improvement as anticipated.”

Internet-connected exercise company Peloton jumped 14.9% after it topped sales forecasts and lost less money in the quarter than analysts were expecting. It achieved modest revenue growth for the first time in more than two years.

Nvidia was the strongest single force pushing the S&P 500 upward and rose 1.1% ahead of its own highly anticipated profit report coming next week.

On the losing side of Wall Street, Snowflake fell 11.6% despite also topping analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It gave a forecast for product revenue in the current quarter that fell short of what analysts were estimating.

Advance Auto Parts tumbled 16.7% after its profit for the latest quarter came up short of Wall Street’s expectations. It cited a “challenging demand environment” and cut its forecast for profit over the full year well below what Wall Street was expecting.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.85% from 3.80% late Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly made modest moves across Asia and Europe. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% after the Bank of Korea decided at its monetary policy meeting to keep rates unchanged.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier and jumped 1.4%.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader gestures near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)