MINNEAPOLIS -- Swingin' in the rain.That's what the Royals were doing for part of Sunday afternoon as they slogged and slugged their way to a 12-6 romp over the Minnesota Twins with 31,455 fans at damp Target Field.Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie shrugged off a rain delay of almost an hour and worked seven innings for the victory. Billy Butler contributed two hits to a seven-run inning and Alex Gordon later banged a two-run homer, while Salvador Perez and Josh Willingham each had solo shots. 
The victory, the Royals' 20th in 25 games, restored their lead in the American League Central to 1 1/2 games over Detroit. The Tigers lost to Seattle, 8-1.Radar watchers apparently miscalculated the rain when they delayed the start of the game by 34 minutes. Nothing fell until after the first inning, as the Royals were coming to bat for the second time.The elements, it seemed, were much tougher on pitcher Tommy Milone than on the Kansas Citians. As the rain came down, the Royals sent seven runners squishing across the plate.Butler set off the second-inning mudfest with a solid single to center. Left-hander Milone loaded the bases by plunking Gordon with a pitch and walking Willingham. Mike Moustakas fouled out, but then things kept, ah, flowing.Alcides Escobar ripped a two-run single, Jarrod Dyson walked and Nori Aoki lined another two-run single. With the infield in, second baseman Brian Dozier missed Omar Infante's grounder for an error and two more runs scored.When Perez singled, Milone was sent out of the shower and into the showers. Reliever Samuel Deduno, a right-hander, promptly gave up an RBI single to Butler for the seventh run before inducing Gordon to bounce into a double play.As the seven-run inning ended so did the downpour and now the Royals could only hope to hold the 7-1 lead and that more rain wouldn't wash out their run burst.The rain did persist, finally causing play to be stopped at 3 p.m. CT with one out in the bottom of the fourth and the Royals up, 7-2.After many bags of Turface Quick Dry and a lot of raking, play resumed after a 54-minute delay and Guthrie, despite the long wait, resumed pitching for the Royals.Earlier, in the third inning, Joe Mauer caught hold of Guthrie's first pitch and drove it over the left-field wall for the Twins' second run. That was Mauer's third homer against Guthrie in 25 at-bats.While the field was still dry in the first inning, the Twins got a run on Danny Santana's leadoff triple and Kennys Vargas' single.After the rain delay, Gordon followed Butler's third single in the fifth inning with a home run to deep right-center field off left-hander Caleb Thielbar. It was Gordon's 13th homer and traveled 422 feet.Vargas matched that in the bottom half, following Mauer's walk, with a drive over the right-field wall to cut the gap to 9-4.Perez lined his home run into the left-field seats against right-hander Ryan Pressly in the seventh. That was followed by Gordon's triple down the right-field line and Willingham's double to right-center.Reliever Jason Frasor, who took over for Guthrie, was tagged for Vargas' double and Oswaldo Arcia's home run to right in the eighth.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
The victory, the Royals' 20th in 25 games, restored their lead in the American League Central to 1 1/2 games over Detroit. The Tigers lost to Seattle, 8-1.Radar watchers apparently miscalculated the rain when they delayed the start of the game by 34 minutes. Nothing fell until after the first inning, as the Royals were coming to bat for the second time.The elements, it seemed, were much tougher on pitcher Tommy Milone than on the Kansas Citians. As the rain came down, the Royals sent seven runners squishing across the plate.Butler set off the second-inning mudfest with a solid single to center. Left-hander Milone loaded the bases by plunking Gordon with a pitch and walking Willingham. Mike Moustakas fouled out, but then things kept, ah, flowing.Alcides Escobar ripped a two-run single, Jarrod Dyson walked and Nori Aoki lined another two-run single. With the infield in, second baseman Brian Dozier missed Omar Infante's grounder for an error and two more runs scored.When Perez singled, Milone was sent out of the shower and into the showers. Reliever Samuel Deduno, a right-hander, promptly gave up an RBI single to Butler for the seventh run before inducing Gordon to bounce into a double play.As the seven-run inning ended so did the downpour and now the Royals could only hope to hold the 7-1 lead and that more rain wouldn't wash out their run burst.The rain did persist, finally causing play to be stopped at 3 p.m. CT with one out in the bottom of the fourth and the Royals up, 7-2.After many bags of Turface Quick Dry and a lot of raking, play resumed after a 54-minute delay and Guthrie, despite the long wait, resumed pitching for the Royals.Earlier, in the third inning, Joe Mauer caught hold of Guthrie's first pitch and drove it over the left-field wall for the Twins' second run. That was Mauer's third homer against Guthrie in 25 at-bats.While the field was still dry in the first inning, the Twins got a run on Danny Santana's leadoff triple and Kennys Vargas' single.After the rain delay, Gordon followed Butler's third single in the fifth inning with a home run to deep right-center field off left-hander Caleb Thielbar. It was Gordon's 13th homer and traveled 422 feet.Vargas matched that in the bottom half, following Mauer's walk, with a drive over the right-field wall to cut the gap to 9-4.Perez lined his home run into the left-field seats against right-hander Ryan Pressly in the seventh. That was followed by Gordon's triple down the right-field line and Willingham's double to right-center.Reliever Jason Frasor, who took over for Guthrie, was tagged for Vargas' double and Oswaldo Arcia's home run to right in the eighth.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
