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Twins seek to stop skid in finale with Royals

May 1, 2011 - 2:58 PM (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Twins try to avoid a sixth straight loss this afternoon when they attempt to salvage the finale of their three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

After losing by a run in Friday's opener, the Twins were manhandled by the Royals on Saturday, as Alex Gordon belted a three-run homer to highlight an eight-run eighth inning in Kansas City's 11-2 rout.

The Royals, who had lost six in a row entering this series, sent 12 batters to the plate during their eighth-inning rally, getting five of their 13 hits during the frame. Gordon's second homer of the season was the big blow, a two- out blast deep over the right field wall.

"A really ugly inning where a lot of bad things happened -- too many to even talk about," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

Sean O'Sullivan started for Kansas City, but didn't factor in the decision after an up-and-down outing. Pitching on little sleep, he yielded just two runs and two hits, but walked seven with three strikeouts.

"In the bullpen I didn't feel real strong. I spent most of the night bent over a toilet, a little bit of a food virus," said O'Sullivan. "Things were pretty weak out there, so I tried to battle as much as I could."

Nathan Adcock (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh and earned the win after Chris Getz tripled and scored on Mike Aviles' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning gave the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Kansas City scored three runs -- two earned -- against Minnesota starter Brian Duensing (2-1), who went seven innings and yielded eight hits and two walks while striking out six.

The Twins committed two errors, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight players on base. They've been outscored 44-11 during the slide and have plated three runs or less in five straight for the first time since August of 2007.

Hoping to avoid its first six-game losing streak since May 15-20, 2009, Minnesota will send right-hander Carl Pavano to the hill. Pavano defeated the Cleveland Indians his last time out, as he allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings to run his record to 2-2, while lowering his ERA to a still- lofty 5.12.

Pavano, who will be trying for the 100th win of his career this afternoon, has faced the Royals 13 times (12 starts) and is 7-5 against them with a 6.28 ERA.

Kansas City, meanwhile, will rely on righty Luke Hochevar this afternoon if they are to complete their first three-game sweep of Minnesota since August of 1998. Hochevar lost his second straight start on Tuesday in Cleveland, as he allowed six runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 frames to fall to 2-3 to go along with a 5.68 ERA.

Hochevar is 2-2 lifetime against the Twins with a 5.32 ERA in eight games, seven of which have been starts.

Though these two clubs split a two-game set at Minnesota on April 12-13, the Twins have still won 22 of their past 31 versus the Royals overall and 13 of the last 19 played at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City hasn't swept the Twins in a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium since July of 1994.