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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Eric Milton prevented the Kansas City Royals
from picking up Sunday where they left off Saturday night.
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| Milton |
Milton led the Twins to a 7-3 victory by holding the Royals
hitless over the first three innings, hours after Minnesota gave up
20 hits in a 12-4 loss.
"Milty certainly set the tone for the game," Twins manager Tom
Kelly said. "That's the best that could happen after we got our
brains beat in."
|  | | Kansas City second baseman Luis Ordaz, center, can't handle the throw from the outfield as Minnesota's Chad Allen slides into second with a double. |
Milton (5-2), coming off a four-hit shutout at Yankee Stadium
last Tuesday, started strong. He gave up eight hits over his final
3 1-3 innings and was replaced by Bob Wells.
His 13-inning scoreless streak was snapped in the fifth.
"You've got to go out and try to make a statement," Milton
said. "We couldn't solve them last night. For me to be on top of
my game, that's what we needed."
The Twins have come back with solid pitching performances in
each of the three times they have allowed more than 10 runs. Brad
Radke came back with victories after the Twins lost to the Royals
15-4 and 12-10 earlier in the season.
"It shows that we don't allow the previous day's performance to
affect the present day's performance," the Twins' Denny Hocking
said. "That's important.
"Brad gives a great performance, Eric wants to do even better
and Joe (Mays) wants to do even better than that. Our pitchers are
not just competing against the league, they're competing against
themselves."
The Twins (25-10) reclaimed sole possession of first place in
the AL Central with the Cleveland Indians' 7-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Before the game, the last-place Royals fired pitching coach
Brent Strom. Bullpen coach Tony Gamboa took over on an interim
basis.
"It's sad for me to see him go," Royals manager Tony Muser.
"He did more work for our staff than anybody I've been around. But
in major league baseball, when you don't perform things like this
happen."
Blake Stein, who retired 10 of the 12 batters he faced in
relief, said the Royals' pitching staff was in shock.
"This was a guy you've been going to battle with since spring
training last year," he said. "It was definitely something we
didn't expect."
The Twins scored four times in the second inning off Mac Suzuki
(2-3) on RBI singles by Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter and Denny
Hocking and a run-scoring groundout by A.J. Pierzynski.
Corey Koskie chased Suzuki, who gave up five runs and six hits,
in the third with a leadoff double.
"(Suzuki) gave up a four-spot," Muser said. "When you're
going against a guy like Milton, that's like cutting your own
throat."
Koskie scored on a single by Jones off Stein, who retired the
next 10 batters he faced.
Down 5-0, the Royals scored in the fifth on A.J. Hinch's RBI
double. Joe Randa hit a two-run double in the sixth.
Wells protected a 5-3 lead by retiring Mike Sweeney and Dye with
the bases loaded in the seventh.
Luis Rivas homered off Cory Bailey in the bottom of the
seventh.
Game notes
Randa and Sweeney both hit doubles, giving them four apiece
in two games. ... The Twins' Doug Mientkiewicz had a double in the
second inning and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Mientkiewicz is 30-for-63 (.476) in the Metrodome. ... The Twins
are 14-4 at home, their best start ever after 18 games.
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Royals deal with 'pen woes by releasing pitching coach
RECAPS
Boston 5
Oakland 4
Tampa Bay 7
Cleveland 0
Anaheim 14
Detroit 2
Baltimore 10
NY Yankees 5
Seattle 7
Toronto 5
Chi. White Sox 6
Texas 3
Minnesota 7
Kansas City 3
Milwaukee 4
Pittsburgh 1
St. Louis 13
Chicago Cubs 4
Montreal 14
Colorado 10
San Francisco 6
NY Mets 3
Los Angeles 3
Atlanta 1
Arizona 6
Philadelphia 1
Florida 10
San Diego 4
Houston 4
Cincinnati 3
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