Royals vs Twins Final Score: Royals Complete Sweep With 3-1 Win

Five in a row! The Kansas City Royals’ (69-64) completed a series sweep on the road with a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Twins (57-75) Thursday afternoon. The victory was their 5th in a row and now is severely highlighting the brutal 7-game losing streak the Royals suffered through last week, mainly at home against poor teams.

Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Bruce Chen bounced back nicely after a couple of poor starts. He worked 5.2 innings, yielding just 1 run on 5 hits. He walked one while striking out 3.The only run allowed came on a Brian Dozier homer to lead off the 6th.

Kelvin Herrera relieved Chen with two outs in the 6th and pitched 1.1 scoreless, hitless frames. Will Smith and Greg Holland also held the Twins without a hit or a run. It was Holland’s 36th save on the season.

At the Plate

The offense was not near as impressive as it had been the last few nights as the Royals only scratched out 6 hits on the day. No one player had more than 1 hit. Billy Butler, Justin Maxwell, and Chris Getz each had a RBI.

This and That

Oakland finally lost (see the notes on Detroit below) so the Royals finally picked up a game on the A’s in the wild card race. Kansas City still trails the A’s by 6 games.

Alcides Escobar, Chris Getz, and Jarrod Dyson each had a stolen base in the game. The Royals now have 121 stolen bases on the season, easily leading the American League by 15 (the Texas Rangers are second), and the majors by 7 (Milwaukee has 114). The Royals have only been caught 23 times all year, good for an 84.03 % success rate. Only the Boston Red Sox (Really?) have a better stolen base success rate, and it is only minimally better  – 84.17%. The Red Sox have 101 stolen bases (Really, the Red Sox?) with 19 caught stealing.

The Royals finish the season with a 14-4 record against the Twins with a +45 run differential. Kansas City is 54-60 against everyone else, with a -8 run differential.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Bruce Chen was a clear cut choice today. It was Chen’s 5th POG on the season.

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

• James Shields – 11
• Alex Gordon – 15
  
• Wade Davis – 5
• Lorenzo Cain – 8
• Luis Mendoza – 3
• Billy Butler – 11
• Ervin Santana – 10
• Miguel Tejada – 5
  
• Jeremy Guthrie -5
• Eric Hosmer – 13
• Chris Getz – 3
• Mike Moustakas – 6
  
• Aaron Crow
• Jarrod Dyson – 3
  
• David Lough – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• J.C. Gutierrez
• Jeff Francoeur
• Bruce Chen – 5
• Salvador Perez – 7
• Will Smith – 1
  
• George Kottaras
• Louis Coleman – 2
  
• Bruce Chen – 2
  
• Justin Maxwell – 2
• Greg Holland -2
  
• Danny Duffy – 2
  
• Luke Hochevar

The Twins

The Twins only scored 50 runs in their 18 games with the Royals, an average of 2.77 per game.The Royals averaged 5.28 runs per game against the Twins. In this series, the Twins were 15 of 91 for a .165 average.

Brian Dozier was the only Twin with more than one hit.

Sam Deduno left the game after three with shoulder soreness. No word yet on the seriousness of the injury.

Up Next

The Royals head north of the border for a three-game match-up with the Blue Jays. Ervin Santana (8-7, 3.21 ERA) will attempt to keep the streak going against veteran Mark Buehrle (10-7, 4.08 ERA).

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (78-56): The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the 9th, including a 3-run walk-off home run by Torii Hunter, to win 7-6. The huge comeback prevented the Tigers from being swept by the Athletics at home in a 4-game series.

Cleveland Indians (71-62): Lonnie Chisenhall hit a pinch hit home run in the 8th to stave off a shut out by the Braves on Thursday. Ubaldo Jimenez allowed all three run over his 7 innings in the 3-1 loss.

Chicago White Sox (56-76): Chicago was idle and they start a 3-game series at Boston today.