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 Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas stroked RBI
doubles in the sixth inning, helping the Royals defeated the
Minnesota Twins 3-2.
Perez, Gordon and Moustakas, who snapped an 0-for-14 skid, doubled
in a nine-pitch, four-batter span off Twins starter Phil Hughes to
give the Royals a 3-1 lead. Perez's double scored second baseman
Omar Infante, who had three hits and walked. Gordon, the Kansas City
left fielder, contributed three hits, including two doubles.
"You know what he's got command with that day, you know what he's
trying to get you out with," Moustakas said of facing Hughes for the
third time. "The more times you see anybody, the better off you'll
be.
Hughes said Moustakas hit a first pitch fastball.
"I felt that was a safe pitch to throw a fastball inside," Hughes
said. "After a couple of at-bats he was probably keyed in on that
and jumped on it. "A few doubles and that that's the game. It's
unfortunate. I felt I good stuff all night. I just couldn't find a
way to limit the damage there in the sixth."
Hughes (10-8) lost his third consecutive start. He limited the
Royals to three singles through five scoreless innings before giving
up three runs and four hits in the sixth, his final inning.
Right-hander Jason Frasor (2-1) struck out first baseman Chris
Colabello looking with the bases loaded to end the sixth, and he
picked up the victory. Frasor replaced left-hander Danny Duffy, who
gave up four hits and one run but walked a season-high six in 5 2/3
innings.
"Duff was battling command a little bit, but still found a way to
manage his pitch count, never let it really get out of hand," Royals
manager Ned Yost said. "He threw the ball really well, made big
pitches when he needed to and you attribute that to his good stuff."
The Twins cut their deficit to 3-2 in the seventh. Center fielder
Danny Santana, who struck out four times in the game, singled home
right fielder Chris Parmelee, who started the inning with a double.
Kelvin Herrera, the fourth of six Kansas City pitchers, struck out
second baseman Brian Dozier on a 100 mph fastball and designated
hitter Josh Willingham on a 101 mph fastball to end the seventh with
runners on second and third.
After Wade Davis pitched a spotless eighth, striking out two, Greg
Holland worked the ninth to log his 28th save in 30 opportunities.
Holland flirted with danger, walking the No. 9 hitter, shortstop
Eduardo Nunez, and uncorking two wild pitches. He struck out Santana
and left fielder Sam Fuld, stranding Nunez at third.
Willingham, who is in the final season of a three-year, $21 million
contract and on the trading block, homered to left field on a 0-1
pitch to lead off the second inning. Willingham was 0-for-11 against
Duffy before hitting his 11th home run of the season.
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Willingham missed 41 games with a fractured left wrist after being hit by
a pitch on April 6.
The Twins made three baserunning blunders in the third and fourth
innings. They were picked off twice and second baseman Brian Dozier was
out by several feet when he tried to score after stealing third and the
ball rolled away from Moustakas. Plays that haunted the Twins.
"(Duffy) is really quick to first base," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire
said. "With three balls and no strikes, you (Fuld) can't get picked off
I don't care how quick he is. It's inexcusable.
"Dozier takes off running home. He doesn't know where the ball is. He
said he didn't hear anything. Scotty (Ullger, third base coach) was
pointing right here at the bag. We all saw that. He just took off. I'm
going to ask him what he was thinking there. He said he didn't hear
anything, well obviously you just don't run. That's not a good play."
Duffy walked the next two batters after picking off Fuld, so the Twins
could have had the bases loaded with none out.
"I wasn't surprised by it," Fuld said. "I was aware of it. I don't know
if I blinked or what happened. It seemed like the ball was there before
I even knew it."
NOTES: OF Oswaldo Arcia rejoined the Twins after missing the Tuesday
game when his wife gave birth to a son. ... Twins RHP Kevin Correia, who
starts Thursday, is 0-5 with a 4.91 ERA in nine career starts against
the Royals. Correia (5-13) will face Royals RHP Yordano Ventura (7-8).
... The Royals scored one or no runs in 25 games this year, losing 24 of
them. ... Royals RHP James Shields held the opponent to two or fewer
earned runs in four of his past five starts, but he managed just one win
in that span. He dropped a 2-1 decision Tuesday to the Twins. ...
Minnesota is 12-23 in series openers.
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reserved.]
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