KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- If Dennys Reyes craved instant

gratification, he'd have quit baseball long ago.

The soft-spoken left-hander had gone 26 straight appearances

without a decision, including six starts. Then Carlos Beltran's

bases-loaded double propelled him and the Kansas City Royals past

the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Saturday.

Reyes (1-0) went seven innings in his fifth start for the

Royals, giving up six hits and two runs for his first win since he

beat Seattle on Sept. 9, 2002. It was his first win as a starter

since Sept. 6, 2002 against Tampa Bay.

"Every time I went out, I just tried to do my best and keep the

game as close as I can so we can come back and win," he said.

He struck out five of his first six batters Saturday and

finished with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Only one of the

runs against him was earned.

"I had a good breaking ball," he said. "I didn't have the

good sinker but my breaking ball was working good today. They were

chasing quite a few breaking balls."

Jeremy Affeldt pitched the ninth for his third save in four

chances.

After Matt Stairs tied it 2-all with a solo homer in the

seventh, Johan Santana (2-3) gave up a single to Tony Graffanino

and a walk to Byron Gettis.

J.C. Romero hit Angel Berroa with an 0-2 pitch, loading the

bases for Beltran, who snapped an 0-for-12 skid with a line drive

into right-center.

Santana, coming off a three-inning outing that was the shortest

of his career, allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Minnesota lost its third straight.

"I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do," Santana

said. "I was throwing my fastball in and out and everything was

working pretty good. It seems like every time we make one mistake

it costs us the game."

Ken Harvey's sixth straight hit, a two-out, RBI double, put

Kansas City ahead in the first. Torii Hunter stopped an 0-for-16

skid with a run-scoring double in the fourth that scored Doug

Mientkiewicz, who slid home on a close play. Michael Cuddyer then

tripled for a 2-1 lead.

Beltran, the AL player of the month for April, had been

perplexed by his slump.

"I'm seeing the ball good. I don't know what's going on," he

said. "It seems like I can't get on top of the ball. In that

at-bat, I was going out there and just try to put the ball in play.

J.C. threw me a sinker right down the middle and I was able to hit

it. As soon as I hit it I knew it was in the gap."

Royals manager Tony Pena threw back his head and laughed when

asked if he'd even considered pinch-hitting for his star

outfielder.

"No," he said. "He's having his struggles. But the horses

always step in at the right time. That's what good players do. They

brought in a very, very tough relief pitcher and he got a big hit.

I was so happy for Carlos."

Cuddyer went 2-for-2 with two walks and has reached in nine

straight plate appearances.Game notes
The Twins have lost seven in a row and 14 of 18 when

scoring three runs or fewer. ... Umpire Charlie Reliford, scheduled

to work second base, left because of a death in his family and was

replaced by Mike Jost. ... C Joe Mauer had one hit in his first

game at Triple-A Rochester and the Twins remained confident he

would rejoin the team some time next week. He had knee surgery

after going on the DL on April 5. ... When Santana struck Harvey

out with a changeup in the fourth, it was the first time in eight

plate appearances the DH/1B had not reached.