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Butler, Royals crush Liriano, Twins

Sep 27, 2008 - 5:02 AM By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Players and staff members of the Minnesota Twins could not say why the clubhouse televisions were all blank following an 8-1 shellacking by the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Presumably, the Twins would be interested in knowing that the team they are battling for American League Central Division supremacy - the Chicago White Sox - was still playing the final innings of its loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The television in manager Ron Gardenhire's office was off as well. He had seen enough after Royals starter Kyle Davies won for the fourth time in his last five starts while Minnesota's de facto ace, Francisco Liriano, was tagged for six runs and a season-high 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Minnesota (87-73) dodged a bullet and remained one-half game ahead of Chicago (86-73) in the division with two games to play thanks to Cleveland's victory. But Gardenhire was not concerned with the outcome of that contest.

"We can't worry about those guys," he said. "If we take care of our own business, we'll be fine. We didn't take care of our own business tonight."

The main culprit was Liriano, who pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning only to give up four runs in the third. Every starter in the Royals' lineup had a hit after two trips through the order.

Liriano's night came to an abrupt end when Billy Butler hit a two-run homer with one out in the fifth inning to give Kansas City a 6-0 lead.

That performance, combined with Davies' impressive effort, effectively erased the momentum the Twins gained from sweeping a three-game series against the White Sox to make the season's final weekend meaningful for both squads.

"That's the one thing we thought we had going after a big series like we just had," Gardenhire said. "You have him going, and you expect Frankie to be able to get you deep into the ballgame. It was just a clunker."

Liriano (6-4) said he struggled controlling his changeup. Several sliders wound up in the dirt as well.

"The hitters were swinging early, making good swings," Liriano said. "I'm very disappointed. It's one of those days. No matter what you throw, they are going to hit it anyway."

The red-hot Royals certainly deserve some of the credit. Kansas City has won 12 of its last 14 games and lead the major leagues with 17 victories this month.

Davies (9-7) avenged his only loss of the month, which occurred here on September 10, and improved to 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last three outings. The righthander struck out six of the first 11 batters he faced and finished with a career high-tying eight while allowing a run and four hits in six innings.

"I think it's the real deal," Royals manager Trey Hillman said of Davies. "He's worked hard to get the ball out of his glove at the right time. It's something he's been working on a long time, even back to his Atlanta days. It's part of the reason we started him in Triple-A - to try to get that mechanical part right. I think he's probably made as many mental adjustments with focusing as mechanical."

Denard Span tripled and scored on Alexi Casilla's groundout in the sixth inning to end Davies' shutout bid. But Kansas City got a solo home run from Mike Aviles in the top of the frame, and Butler scored on Miguel Olivo's single in the seventh to cap the scoring.

The letdown was even tougher for Minnesota, considering the euphoria experienced in its comeback victory on Thursday. Rather than build on that momentum, the Twins watched it fizzle.

"I felt like we were even more loose today, if anything," Span said. "We had a lot more fun today. Everybody came in with a good attitude, still feeling the effects from yesterday. We just didn't come ready to play today."

Butler finished with three hits, two RBI and two runs scored, pacing six Royals with multiple hits.