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Twins snap skid with win over Royals

Jun 3, 2011 - 4:33 AM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Despite losing sluggers Jim Thome and Jason Kubel earlier Thursday to the 15-day disabled list, the Minnesota Twins' offense picked up the slack for an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals to open a four-game series

Michael Cuddyer drove in two runs for the Twins, who placed Thome and Kubel on the DL because of a strained left quadriceps and sprained left ankle, respectively. Ben Revere, Kubel's replacement, had an RBI double to help Minnesota snap a four-game slide and collect just its third win in 13 games.

Twins starter Anthony Swarzak (1-2) recorded his first win since July 26, 2009, allowing just two runs on seven hits over six frames.

Jeff Francoeur drove in the only two runs for the Royals, who have lost nine of their last 12. Starter Sean O'Sullivan (2-5) was pounded for seven runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over just 2 2/3 innings to get the loss.

"It's the most frustating thing in the world for me right now. I feel like in the last two or three years, I've tried to do so many things mechanically," said O'Sullivan. "Change this. Change that. Do this. Do that. It's almost like, 'Man, where did I start?' Right now, I'm trying to figure some things out."

The Twins capitalized on the Royals' mistakes and had timely hitting in the third inning to blow the game open with six runs.

Alexi Casilla and Justin Morneau started it with consecutive singles and Cuddyer ripped a double down the left field line to bring home Casilla for the first run of the barrage.

Danny Valencia hit a hard grounder to the right of second baseman Mike Aviles, who bobbled the ball to keep all the runners safe while Morneau scored.

The first out of the inning finally came when Cuddyer was caught stealing third base, but Delmon Young singled to put runners on first and second. After Revere struck out, Rene Rivera singled through the left side to plate Valencia.

Matt Tolbert kept the inning going with an RBI single before Kansas City had another costly mishap. With Denard Span in the batter's box, O'Sullivan threw a ball into the dirt, which allowed Rivera to race home and Tolbert move to third. Span then laced a line drive to left to push Tolbert across. Casilla, who led off the inning, ended the threat with a ground out.

"That's huge. To be able to go out there and kind of just let it eat a little bit and hope for the best. That was fun tonight," Swarzak said of pitching when his club gave him a sizeable lead. "When guys come up and give you a big lead like that and swung the bats well, it makes it a lot easier to pitch."

Francoeur drove in his second RBI in the fifth to make it a 7-2 contest.

Revere doubled in Young during the seventh to push it back to a six-run lead and Minnesota's bullpen closed the game out. Jose Mijares, Alex Burnett and Matt Capps each tossed a shutout inning to preserve the win.

The two teams traded runs in the first inning to keep the game squared away.

Span singled to leadoff the game, moved to second on a walk and scurried to third on Morneau's fly out. He then scored on Cuddyer's fielder's choice.

During the bottom half of the inning, Francoeur ripped a double to score Eric Hosmer to tie it at one.

Game Notes

O'Sullivan dropped to 1-2 in four career starts against the Twins...The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Royals against the Twins...Minnesota also called up infielder Luke Hughes to fill Thome's roster spot...Kansas City was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.