April 13, 2011

Minneapolis (AP) — Slumping Mike Aviles doubled twice and drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals became the latest team to tag Francisco Liriano, roughing up the Minnesota Twins 10-5 Wednesday.

Aviles ended his 0-for-18 rut and Alex Gordon added two hits and drove in two runs. The Royals scored six times in the fourth inning to break open the game.

Kyle Davies (1-1) won despite allowing five runs and 10 hits in five innings. Jeremy Jeffress threw two scoreless innings for his first major league save.

Liriano (0-3) gave up six straight hits during the Royals’ big inning. He began the game with a 7.71 ERA after Toronto and the Yankees knocked him around in his first two starts.

Denard Span was 4 for 4 and scored twice for the Twins, who started the day as the lowest-scoring team in the majors.

Kansas City is showing no such problem with its bats.

The Royals started the day with the AL’s second-best batting average and every starter except Matt Treanor finished with a hit Wednesday.

Liriano went 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA last year and ranked fifth in the AL with 201 strikeouts. The left-hander is still trying to re-establish his dominance after elbow surgery four years ago.

Liriano held the Royals hitless through the first three innings. The second time through the order, however, proved a tougher task. That’s been his pattern this year – in their first plate appearance against Liriano, hitters are batting just .083.

Manager Ron Gardenhire has been telling Liriano to relax, trust his movement and pitch to contact. In the first three innings, Liriano holds a 2.00 ERA; from the fourth inning on, his ERA jumps to 18.56 and hitters are hitting .448 off him.

Kansas City opened the fourth with five straight singles before a two-run double by Aviles. Alcides Escobar later singled and Chris Getz had an RBI single.

Aviles added an RBI double in the sixth after Minnesota struck for four runs in the fifth against Davies. Gordon hit a two-run double as part of a three-run ninth.

The Twins scored in the first inning for the first time this season, but missed a prime opportunity for more.

Span opened with a single, the first leadoff hit for Minnesota this season, and later scored. The Twins had runners at first and third with no outs, but a pair of popouts and a strikeout ended the threat for Davies.

NOTES: Liriano was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA last season against Kansas City. He only allowed two earned runs in 14 innings. … The Twins led the majors in first-inning runs last season, but had failed to score in the first or second innings in any game this season. The three first-inning hits equaled their season total. Minnesota entered the game 3 for 33 in the first inning, with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MINNEAPOLIS – Slumping Mike Aviles doubled twice and drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals became the latest team to tag Francisco Liriano, roughing up the Minnesota Twins 10-5 Wednesday.

Aviles ended his 0-for-18 rut and Alex Gordon added two hits and drove in two runs. The Royals scored six times in the fourth inning to break open the game.

Kyle Davies (1-1) won despite allowing five runs and 10 hits in five innings. Jeremy Jeffress threw two scoreless innings for his first major league save.

Liriano (0-3) gave up six straight hits during the Royals’ big inning. He began the game with a 7.71 ERA after Toronto and the Yankees knocked him around in his first two starts.

Denard Span was 4 for 4 and scored twice for the Twins, who started the day as the lowest-scoring team in the majors.

Kansas City is showing no such problem with its bats.

The Royals started the day with the AL’s second-best batting average and every starter except Matt Treanor finished with a hit Wednesday.

Liriano went 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA last year and ranked fifth in the AL with 201 strikeouts. The left-hander is still trying to re-establish his dominance after elbow surgery four years ago.

Liriano held the Royals hitless through the first three innings. The second time through the order, however, proved a tougher task. That’s been his pattern this year — in their first plate appearance against Liriano, hitters are batting just .083.

Manager Ron Gardenhire has been telling Liriano to relax, trust his movement and pitch to contact. In the first three innings, Liriano holds a 2.00 ERA; from the fourth inning on, his ERA jumps to 18.56 and hitters are hitting .448 off him.

Kansas City opened the fourth with five straight singles before a two-run double by Aviles. Alcides Escobar later singled and Chris Getz had an RBI single.

Aviles added an RBI double in the sixth after Minnesota struck for four runs in the fifth against Davies. Gordon hit a two-run double as part of a three-run ninth.

The Twins scored in the first inning for the first time this season, but missed a prime opportunity for more.

Span opened with a single, the first leadoff hit for Minnesota this season, and later scored. The Twins had runners at first and third with no outs, but a pair of popouts and a strikeout ended the threat for Davies.

NOTES: Liriano was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA last season against Kansas City. He only allowed two earned runs in 14 innings. … The Twins led the majors in first-inning runs last season, but had failed to score in the first or second innings in any game this season. The three first-inning hits equaled their season total. Minnesota entered the game 3 for 33 in the first inning, with two walks and 11 strikeouts.