SAN DIEGO -- For all the bullpen tumult of the last three days and the seemingly uncertain timelines for the returns of the Twins’ two biggest stars, the big picture of this road trip simply ended up being a continuation of what the club has done all season anyway: The Twins just kept taking care of business.

The Twins erupted for seven consecutive hits in the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon against the Padres to plate seven runs, an onslaught that put their 11-4 victory away early. The series finale at Petco Park featured three-RBI games from Matt Wallner and Austin Martin and four-hit games from Trevor Larnach and Edouard Julien.

Not only did the Twins avoid a sweep at the hands of the Padres -- winners of 22 of 29 since the All-Star break -- but they also secured a winning road trip, going 4-3 against Texas and San Diego to again clip Cleveland’s lead in the AL Central to 2 1/2 games.

“It was an important road trip for us,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We were going into this road trip with some guys who were not going to be available for us. And it kind of stamps and further emphasizes the fact that we want our players back and healthy, but whoever we have, we don’t care who we’re facing. We can go out and win games.”

Sure, the Twins have left wins on the table with the bullpen meltdowns of Sunday and Tuesday, but in the continued injury absences of both Carlos Correa (plantar fasciitis) and Byron Buxton (right hip inflammation), they have not only continued to play at a winning clip, but have also taken advantage of the opportunity to test their roster depth.

“It's awesome having depth and being able to win even without those superstars,” Wallner said. “It's awesome.”

Take Julien, for example. Back in the Majors in Buxton’s roster spot Julien turned in his first four-hit game since Aug. 16, 2023 and keyed the Twins’ rallies in both the fourth and fifth innings with singles.

In the fourth, the Twins followed with a Christian Vázquez single, Martin double, Willi Castro double, singles from Larnach and Royce Lewis, and Wallner’s three-run homer. San Diego knuckleballer Matt Waldron was tagged with 10 earned runs as the Twins knocked 18 hits, their highest total since June 12 and their second-most all season.

Of those seven consecutive hits off Waldron that inning, the first six came on either the first or second pitch of the plate appearance, with the Twins adapting their approach to take advantage of the right-hander’s “normal” pitches -- and that they did, with five of the seven hits coming off non-knucklers.

“I think we kind of figured that out the second time through,” Wallner said. “We were probably a little bit too patient the first time through and tried, maybe, to see [the knuckleball]. It's just a different pitch that you don't see every day. I think after that, we got way more aggressive and started battling in those counts and winning.”

Just as a resurgent Julien was key to those rallies, the continued hitting of Martin -- playing center field in Buxton’s stead -- has helped keep the Twins in the win column, with his 133 wRC+ in August entering Wednesday working alongside surges from Vázquez, Ryan Jeffers and Wallner.

Martin’s two-run double into the left-field corner was the first breakthrough hit in that fourth-inning rally. After Julien again set the table in the fifth, Martin poked another liner down the third-base line for a second RBI double. That brought the Twins to the precipice of their fourth double-digit run total of the month, most in the Majors, even without Correa, Buxton and Brooks Lee for much of that span.

While the depth of the team continues this push toward the playoffs, the hope and aim is that the Twins will be closer to full strength when the games matter most later in the fall, taking advantage of this experience against elite opponents like the Padres and the eventual return of their stars.

All this while the rookie end of the starting rotation continues to gain experience in that pursuit, with Simeon Woods Richardson’s bases-loaded escape in the first inning propelling him in his five strong frames against a great Padres lineup -- and he’s feeling the surge, too.

“Yeah, we're playing for something now,” Woods Richardson said. “We've always played for something, but now, you're starting to see every pitch start to matter more. It's fun.”