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 Kansas City wrapped up the regular season with a 6-1 win over the
Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Sunday and enter the playoffs on
a five-game winning streak.
The win sewed up homefield advantage for as far as the Royals can
advance in the postseason thanks to their American League-leading 95
wins and the A.L.'s victory in the All-Star Game in Cincinnati in
mid-July.
"I'm glad we're done with the first part of our season. I'm glad
we're done with the marathon, the 162," said Royals manager Ned
Yost. "Now the fun starts.
"We got the big lead and guys started, a little bit, to go into
conserve mode. It was like 'OK, let's save as much ammo as we can
because when we get (to the playoffs), we're going to come out guns
blazing."
Kansas City will open the playoffs on Thursday at Kaufmann Stadium
against the winner of the American League wild-card game, which will
be played on Tuesday in New York between the Yankees and Houston
Astros.
"Either or, it's going to be a tough series," Royals first baseman
Eric Hosmer said. "That's the postseason. You know going in, it's
going to be tough no matter who you play."
Sunday was a bitter end for a Twins club that had postseason
aspirations all the way up until a 5-1 loss on Saturday ended their
hopes of winning the second wild-card spot. The Twins finished with
an 83-79 record, their first winning mark since 2010.
Minnesota mustered just three runs total in the three-game sweep.
The Twins entered the series just a game back of Houston for the
second wild-card spot. On Sunday, fans got a look at several of
Minnesota's young players, including outfield prospect Max Kepler,
who made his first major league start. He singled in his second
at-bat Sunday for his first big league hit.
"We had an opportunity to go out there and get some guys at-bats,"
Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "The Royals had our number here at
Target Field, but it was a fun day to see all the kids out there
running around."
The Royals scored five early runs against Twins starter Ricky
Nolasco then cruised the rest of the way.
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Royals right-hander Johnny Cueto pitched five innings for the win,
allowing just one run despite giving up six hits and a four walks.
He also struck out four, improving to 4-7 since being acquired from
the Cincinnati Reds on July 26.
Left fielder Alex Gordon scored one with a double to open scoring.
Right fielder Alex Rios followed with a two-run double down the
right-field line for a three-run lead.
Catcher Salvador Perez made it 5-0 in the third with a two-run blast
off the facade of the second deck in left-center, his 21st of the
season. Perez went 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs before being
lifted from the game late.
Nolasco allowed five runs on four hits and three walks in 2 2/3
innings and took the loss in his first start since May 31.
"It was nice to get him the start as a reward for all the work he
did after coming back from his ankle injury," Molitor said.
Six different players had a hit for Minnesota, including shortstop
Danny Santana's RBI single in the fourth that scored the Twins' only
run of the day.
NOTES: Kansas City Royals DH Kendrys Morales returned to the
starting lineup on Sunday. Morales has been available off the bench
but has not started the last two games because of a sore left quad.
... Minnesota Twins OF Shane Robinson started the game in left field
and batted second. It was Robinson's first start since Sept. 3
against the Chicago White Sox.
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