Royals stomp Twins behind Gordon, Kennedy
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon hit a pair of home runs and doubled while Ian Kennedy pitched eight scoreless innings as the Kansas City Royals routed the Minnesota Twins 10-0 on Saturday night.
Gordon extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games and had only his second three-hit game of the year. Gordon raised his batting average to .227 after going 17-for-41 in his streak.
Kennedy (8-9) limited the Twins to four hits over eight innings and has won back-to-back starts for the first time since May 1 and May 7. Brian Flynn replaced Kennedy in the ninth and pitched a spotless inning to complete the shutout.
Lorenzo Cain had two doubles and a sacrifice fly, driving in three runs.
The Royals hiked their winning streak to a season-best seven games.
Kennedy, who had a 1.04 ERA in his previous four starts, pitched out of a pickle in the second inning when Eduardo Rosario singled with one out and motored to third on Eduardo Escobar's single to right. Kennedy got out of that when Robbie Grossman popped up a bunt that catcher Salvador Perez caught and Kurt Suzuki flied out to right to end the inning.
The Royals bunched four hits to score three runs in the third off left-hander Hector Santiago (10-8). Alcides Escobar led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Christian Colon's bunt single. Cheslor Cuthbert sliced an opposite-field double, scoring Escobar with the first run. Lorenzo Cain yanked a double down the left-field line, scoring Colon and Cuthbert.
Gordon homered on a 2-1 pitch in the fourth for his longest hitting streak since a 12-game string in April 2013.
The Royals upped their advantage to 8-0 in the fifth. Cain doubled to the left-center gap with one out, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Eric Hosmer's single. Perez homered into the Royals' bullpen with two out and Gordon homered on a 3-1 pitch, his first multi-homer game since May 18, 2014.
That finished Santiago, who yielded 11 eight runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Adalberto Mejia replaced him, making his major league debut.
NOTES: The Twins promoted LHP Adalberto Mejia, who was a combined 8-5 with a 3.10 ERA in 21 starts with three minor league clubs this season. Santiago, who was acquired in a July 28 trade with the San Francisco Giants, was put in the bullpen. DH-1B Kenny Vargas was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to make roster space for Mejia. ... 2B Christian Colon started for the first time since Sunday as rookie Raul Mondesi got the night off. ... The Royals have eight walk-off victories, two more than last year when they won the World Series. 1B Eric Hosmer, who had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning on Friday, has seven career walk-off hits. ... Twins rookie RF Max Kepler, who is hitless in his last eight at-bats and 3-for-16 on this trip, was not in the lineup. ... Twins RHP Ervin Santana and Royals LHP Danny Duffy are the pitching probables Sunday for the series finale.