It didn’t take long for Brian Dozier to set the tone on Tuesday night. It rarely does when you’re the leadoff hitter.

But when Dozier poked the third pitch he saw from Padres starter Travis Wood — a 2-0, two-seam fastball — into the seats in right field, it set off a chain of events that led to yet another historic night at Target Field in a 16-0 win over San Diego.

Dozier’s home run was the only run the Twins scored in the first, but it was far from the last, as the team homered in each of the first seven innings of the game on the way to a blowout victory. In doing so, the Twins became — at least according to Elias Sports Bureau — the first team in MLB history to homer in each of the first seven innings of a game.

Regardless of the offensive barrage from the Twins — which not only included a Target Field-record seven home runs but 10 extra-base hits and 18 hits altogether — starter Kyle Gibson was again on his game, as he has been ever since taking the ball on July 22 against the Detroit Tigers. Since that start, Gibson has allowed three or fewer earned runs in each subsequent outing — a span of nine starts which has seen his ERA drop from a cringe-worthy 6.29 to a season-low 4.97 after Tuesday night.

After posting a 3.90 ERA in August, September has been ever better for Gibson, as he has allowed just two earned runs this month for a 0.95 ERA with 11 strikeouts, just one walk and perhaps just as importantly, zero home runs.

“It felt good,” Gibson said. “We all had a pretty good plan going into today. Castro called a great game, and the offense got on board early again and it had a similar feeling to Kansas City a couple weeks ago.”

Gibson is, of course, referring to the last time he was on the mound at Target Field, when the Twins won 17-0 over the Royals. To do some math that even a journalist is capable of, Gibson’s offense has scored 33 runs over his past two starts.

That’ll work.

“We had a game like this last homestand where we were able to pile up runs and guys were able to keep scoring,” Manager Paul Molitor said, again referring to the win over the Royals early in the month. “I think tonight was everything you could ask for to open up a homestand. We got a solid start; Gibby keeps his roll going.”

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