Hosmer, Guthrie lead Royals past Twins
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Eric Hosmer provided the offense, while Jeremy Guthrie supplied the pitching. The result was another Royals victory.
Hosmer homered and drove in a career-best five runs and Guthrie pitched a shutout as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 13-0 Monday night.
"We're out there having fun," Hosmer said. "Guys are playing for each other and we're feeding off the fans' energy. It's nice after a good road trip to come back home and really see how much the fans appreciate the way we're playing."
The Royals went 8-1 on a just-concluded three-city road trip and have won 12 of 13. The 13 runs was a season high.
Guthrie (12-7) did not allow a hit after the fifth inning, retiring the final 13 batters he faced to log his second career shutout, both this season.
"To get a win without having to tax the bullpen is going to be important for us," Guthrie said.
Guthrie's 12 victories represents a career high.
"It's a compliment to the team," Guthrie said. "They've done nothing but support me on the mound with a ton of runs. I'm grateful for that. I've been on the other side of it.
"We're playing good baseball. So hopefully right now will get in a groove and start powering up a lot of wins down the stretch."
Things got so bad for the Twins that infielder Jamey Carroll pitched the eighth inning and retired the Royals in order.
"I think when I was 15," Carroll said of his prior pitching outing. "It was in Babe Ruth ball. They let me pitch for a day."
Carroll threw seven strikes in nine pitches, getting Elliot Johnson and Moustakas on fly outs and George Kottaras on a grounder.
"We had only one player left on the bench," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Jamie said 'I want to do it.' I said 'you're in.' I hope the pitchers watched."
Hosmer hit a three-run homer in the sixth and contributed a two-run single in the six-run second inning.
The Royals, who moved five games above .500, recorded a season high for runs in a game. The 16-hit attack included four hits by Moustakas, matching his career high. He had two hits in the second inning alone.
Kansas City sent 11 men to the plate in the second and scored six runs on five hits and three walks.
Moustakas led off the inning with a double and capped it off with a two-run single. Hosmer also contributed a two-run single in the inning.
Lorenzo Cain walked with the bases loaded, scoring George Kottaras. Billy Butler rifled a single to left to score Cain with the other run.
Kevin Correia, who limited the Royals to two runs over six innings in a no-decision in his previous start, was yanked after two innings. Correia was charged with six runs on seven hits and three walks.
"Correia just didn't have it tonight," Gardenhire said. "He couldn't make a pitch and they hit him hard and put six on him.
"It's just been too many starts where we have to go to our bullpen too early."
Brian Duensing, who replaced Correia, held the Royals to one hit and struck out three over three scoreless innings.
Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe made a tremendous defensive play in the fourth inning when he tumbled head first into a dugout suite, but held onto Alex Gordon's foul pop up.
Notes: Twins OF Josh Willingham, who went on the disabled list July 2 with a left knee injury that required surgery, went 0-for-3 with a walk Monday for Class AAA Rochester in his first minor league rehab game. ...Royals C Salvador Perez is not permitted to do any baseball-related activities until passing concussion tests. Perez suffered the injury in the 12th inning Saturday against the Mets. ...LHP Andrew Albers, 27, will make his big league debut Tuesday, starting against the Royals. Albers missed the 2009-10 seasons with elbow injuries.
