The Royals jumped all over Twins pitching, and a late Twins rally fell short, as the Royals beat the Twins 14-6 on Tuesday night at the Metrodome.
Nick Blackburn gave up six earned runs and only recorded five outs on 45 pitches for his earliest start of the year. Brian Duensing wasn't much better, surrendering 3 runs while only getting four outs plus an out on the base paths. Bobby Keppel got eight outs but also gave up three runs. And Jesse Crain gave up 2 runs in his inning and two thirds of work. The four pitches combined to give up 14 runs on 18 hits and seven walks in eight innings.
All this happened against a Royals team that ranks 13th in the league hits, SLG and OPS, 14th in runs, home runs and OBP. This was the worst pitching performance by the staff all year, and it is the third game out of four in which the staff gave up runs in double digits.
The Twins did manage to score six runs on homers by Delmon Young and Brendan Harris and RBI hits by Span and Cabrera. But once again, the pitching left the team a crater it could not dig its way out of with a Bobcat.
Expect a move to get a fresh arm up here for Wednesday's game with Francisco Liriano on the mound and no long or middle relief options available.
Studs:
Miguel Olivo: He was a double away from a cycle in the fourth. He ended up with 3 runs and 3 RBI on 3 hits.
Alberto Callaspo: Reached base four times and scored 3 runs.
David DeJesus: On base five times in the game.
Duds:
Nick Blackburn: See above.
Brian Duensing: Ditto.
Bobby Keppel: Ditto