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SAN DIEGO — Phil Hughes threw seven shutout innings and Trevor Plouffee homered in the Minnesota Twins 2-0 victory over the punchless San Diego Padres on Wednesday night. Dean Palmer Jersey . Padres starter Tyson Ross (5-4) nearly matched Hughes, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out eight. Chris Parmelees sacrifice fly to left in the sixth scored Joe Mauer and Plouffee hit his third home run in the eighth. Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth to collect his 14th save in 16 chances. Hughes (5-1) came over from the Yankees in the off-season, signing a $24 million, three-year deal. He won his fifth straight decision and didnt walk a batter for the fifth consecutive start, while striking out seven. The Padres have been shut out eight times, tops in the majors. Ross struck out eight for the third consecutive start, which is one off his season-high. Mauer walked with one out in the sixth and stole second off Rene Rivera, who threw out three runners attempting to steal in his last start Sunday in Denver. Plouffe then hit a slow chopper to third and beat Chase Headleys throw, with Mauer moving to third. Mauer scored on Parmelees sacrifice and Plouffe advanced to third on a throwing error by Headley. Ross then walked Kurt Suzuki, but escaped further damage when Jason Kubel flied out. Ross breezed through the first five innings, allowing two singles and a walk while striking out six. Kubel was the only Twin getting into scoring position, advancing to second after walking and stealing second in the second. Kubel was stranded when Danny Santana struck out and Aaron Hicks grounded out. The Padres looked poised to tie the game in the sixth when Headley and Yonder Alonso singled with no outs. But Jedd Gyorko and Cameron Maybin grounded out and Will Venable struck out. The Padres, who had hits in each of the first four innings, threatened in the third with two outs when Seth Smith and Headley had consecutive singles. But Alonso, who was elevated to fourth in the order, flied to centre. Another Padres baserunner reached with two outs when Maybin collected his second hit in the fourth, but Rivera struck out to end the inning. Smith had three of the Padres eight hits. NOTES: Padres manager Bud Black will miss Thursdays game against the Cubs to attend daughter Jessies graduation from the University of Maryland. Black will return for Fridays game. . OF Carlos Quentin remains sidelined with a groin injury, but will likely avoid the DL. . With 18 doubles, Plouffe is four doubles shy of last years career high. . Ex-Twins 3B Corey Koskie and area scout John Wilson will represent the team at the first-year player draft on June 5 . Twins RHP Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.20) faces Giants RHP Tim Lincecum (3-3, 4.74) to open a three-game series on Friday. The Padres send LHP Eric Stults (2-4, 4.50) against Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (0-0, 2.70) on Thursday. Don Lund Jersey . Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying homer leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseballs North American opener Sunday night. Hank Greenberg Jersey . And once again, Team Homan emerged as the victor with the reigning national champions defeating Team Sweeting at the Pintys All-Star Curling Skins Game Friday night in the tournaments opening draw at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in beautiful Banff National Park.LONDON — Manchester United is closing in on signing Juan Mata after bidding 37 million pounds ($61 million) for the Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata, the teams first move in the January transfer window. United is waiting for its English Premier League rival to sign off on the club-record deal for the 25-year-old Spain international, a person close to negotiations said on Thursday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been finalized. Mata is yet to have a medical examination at United, which is in no rush to complete the deal as its next match is not until Tuesday against Cardiff. The transfer would eclipse the 30.7 million pounds United paid to sign striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham in 2008, and show that the American owners are willing to spend to revitalize a struggling team. Matas move could speed up now Chelsea has struck a deal with Swiss club Basel to sign Mohamed Salah. The Egypt midfielder still has to agree to personal terms and pass a medical with the London club. In a sign that Matas departure from Chelsea is nearing after falling out of favour, the clubs player of the year for the last two seasons did not train with the first team on Wednesday. „He has great skill, great imagination, flair and goal-scoring ability,“ former United defender Gary Pallister said. „A lot of people cant quite understand why he has not been in Jose Mourinhos team after being player of the year for the last two seasons. Sam Crawford Jersey. „He is the kind of player Manchester United fans want to see … and can get people off their seats in anticipation of the things he can do with a football.“ Signing Mata would be a coup for United manager David Moyes, and lift some of the gloom surrounding recent performances. The bright spot is still remaining in Champions League contention going into the round of 16 against Olympiakos next month. But the team is seventh in the league, 14 points behind leader Arsenal, and facing a fight to secure one of the four Champions League places. Having already exited the FA Cup, United missed out on a spot in the League Cup final on Wednesday when Sunderland won a penalty shootout at Old Trafford. One fan was so distressed about the loss that he called an emergency number and asked to speak to former manager Alex Ferguson, who retired in May after more than 26 trophy-filled years in charge of United. „Last night, at approximately 10:30 p.m. a man from the Crumpsall area of north Manchester rang 999 in a drunken state demanding to speak to Sir Alex Ferguson about last nights result,“ Greater Manchester Police said on one of its Facebook pages. „Obviously, it can be a sad and depressing moment when your football team loses a game, however can we all please remember that 999 is to be used for emergencies only.“ ‚ ‚ ‚