Final
Mauer has 7 RBIs, Valencia 4 as Twins stomp KC
Jul 27, 2010 - 4:50 AMVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) -- Danny Valencia's own grandchildren may have trouble believing this story one day.
Not only was his first major league home run a grand slam, it came in a 19-1 victory. And on a night he went 4 for 4. And, topper of toppers, it was off the reigning American League Cy Young winner in a six-run first inning.
The rookie third baseman, who didn't even homer in the minors this year before being called up in early June, cleared the bases against Zack Greinke in the first inning of Minnesota's rout of Kansas City on Monday night.
"What better way to start it off?" Valencia said with a big grin. "Not just hit a home run, but a grand slam, and off a guy who's an accomplished big leaguer and won the Cy Young. It was great."
Valencia didn't know he'd gone into the record book as the first Minnesota Twin to hit a grand slam for his first major league homer.
"Really? That's awesome," he said. "Pretty cool."
Joe Mauer did even better on a night the Twins set a season high for runs and tied their season best with 20 hits. The AL's 2009 MVP was 5 for 5 with a home run and a career-high seven RBIs.
"It was just one of those nights where everything we swung at started finding holes and going all over the place," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "A great night offensively for us. A lot of people involved all the way up and down. You don't see that too many times."
Mauer had three singles, a double and a three-run home run that made it 17-0 in the seventh. The five hits tied his career best. The crowd booed in the eighth when Drew Butera pinch hit for him.
"I asked him if he wanted another bat," said Gardenhire. "Do you want to hit? He said, `No, I'm good.' That's good enough for me."
The Twins skipper is planning to give his All-Star catcher as much rest as possible the second half of the season.
"A big catcher like he is, a guy who's on the bases a little more than most other catchers, if we can do that, we're going to do that the best we can and hopefully get him through some of the aches and pains that catchers go through this time of year," Gardenhire said.
Five Twins had multihit games. Their 11 extra-base hits included two home runs, two triples and seven doubles. Alexi Casilla had three RBIs and scored three runs and Delmon Young had four hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
Wilson Betemit's RBI double off Anthony Slama with two out in the ninth prevented the Royals from suffering their worst shutout loss ever.
Virtually unnoticed among the offensive fireworks was the best game Francisco Liriano (9-7) has thrown all year. The Twins starter threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits, with no walks and six strikeouts.
Greinke (6-10), who has been bothered by a sore shoulder, got roughed up for eight hits and eight runs in just four innings, one of the worst outings of his career, and dropped to 0-3 against Minnesota this year.
Valencia, a rookie third baseman, also scored four runs. His grand slam capped a six-run first inning against the reigning Cy Young winner.
"You shouldn't have a game like this ever," said Greinke. "It was just that bad. It was just a bad game. It was a bad everything. It was just bad the whole time. My fastball was really bad. My off-speed was OK, but every fastball was hit hard. Every time I threw it in the strike zone, they hit it hard."
Needing a triple for the cycle in his last at-bat in the eighth, Valencia walked on a 3-2 pitch from Dustin Hughes, the fifth Kansas City pitcher.
"First home run a grand slam off Greinke, that's something to write on the ball," said Gardenhire. "That young man's as good as they get as far as pitchers go."
In a prelude of what the night would hold, the Twins came within a couple of inches of becoming just the fifth team since 1974 to have its first four batters combine for the cycle.
Jason Repko led off the game with a double, then trotted home when Casilla tripled into right-center. After Mauer singled, Young launched a Greinke fastball into deep left field. The ball was only a few inches short of clearing the fence, and Young settled for an RBI double.
Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer struck out and Jason Kubel walked before Valencia lashed a 3-1 pitch over the fence in left for a 6-0 lead.
Kansas City's Jason Kendall became the fifth catcher in major catcher in major league history to catch 2,000 games. The 36-year-old is in his 15th season.
NOTES: It was the fourth time Mauer had five hits, and the second against Kansas City this year. ... Royals RHP Gil Meche gave up seven runs on eight hits in four innings Monday in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha against New Orleans. ... KC SS Yuniesky Betancourt was a late scratch because of a "personal emergency."
- Royals 1, Twins 19 - FINAL
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Repko cf 5 2 2 0 0 2 2 .280
A Casilla 2b 4 3 2 3 1 0 0 .315
J Mauer c 5 3 5 7 0 0 0 .305
va-D Butera ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .176
D Young lf 6 2 4 1 0 1 2 .328
J Thome dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .259
J Morale
Jul 26 11:13 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY WILSON BETEMIT SCORED MITCH MAIER
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, W BETEMIT ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 19
KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM,9TH
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M AVILES (.289, 0-FOR-3)
Twins 19, Royals 1 Bot 9, 0 OutsJul 26 11:09 PM - Confuzed 19-0 let's see now...that's 2 touchdowns, a field goal and a safety...right ?
Twins 19, Royals 0 Bot 9, 0 OutsJul 26 11:03 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ALEXI CASILLA SCORED J.J. HARDY
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J REPKO ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 19
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MAUER (.305, 5-FOR-5, HR, 7 RBI)
Twins 19, Royals 0 Top 8, 0 OutsJul 26 10:44 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY J.J. HARDY SCORED DANNY VALENCIA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J HARDY ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 18
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J REPKO (.280, 2-FOR-5)
Twins 18, Royals 0 Top 8, 0 OutsJul 26 10:42 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY JOE MAUER (6) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 0
OUT IN THE 7TH OFF VICTOR MARTE SCORED ALEXI CASILLA AND
JASON REPKO.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 17, KANSAS CITY 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D YOUNG (.324, 2-FOR-4, RBI)
Twins 17, Royals 0 Top 7, 0 OutsJul 26 10:15 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON KUBEL SCORED MICHAEL CUDDYER AND JOSE
MORALES
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, J KUBEL ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 14
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D VALENCIA (.369, 3-FOR-3, HR, 4 RBI)
Twins 14, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 9:56 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY MICHAEL CUDDYER SCORED DELMON YOUNG
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, M CUDDYER ON SECOND, J MORALES ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 12
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J KUBEL (.262, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Twins 12, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 9:53 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DELMON YOUNG SCORED JOE MAUER
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, D YOUNG ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 11
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J THOME (.259, 0-FOR-3)
Twins 11, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 9:47 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JOE MAUER SCORED ALEXI CASILLA
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J MAUER ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 10
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D YOUNG (.322, 1-FOR-3)
Twins 10, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 9:44 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ALEXI CASILLA SCORED DANNY VALENCIA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A CASILLA ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 9
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MAUER (.301, 3-FOR-3, 3 RBI)
Twins 9, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 9:43 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOE MAUER SCORED J.J. HARDY AND DANNY VALENCIA
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J MAUER ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 8
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D YOUNG (.323, 1-FOR-2)
Twins 8, Royals 0 Top 4, 0 OutsJul 26 9:18 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 6 6 5 0
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: MIN - FRANCISCO LIRIANO
KAN - ZACK GREINKE
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: S PODSEDNIK (.309, 5 HR, 43 RBI)
J KENDALL (.272, 0 HR, 33 RBI)
B BUTLER (.315, 9 HR, 49 RB
Twins 6, Royals 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsJul 26 8:26 PM
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