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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Eric Milton is pitching so well lately, he
doesn't have to do it standing up.
Milton, who struck out Jermaine Dye while falling off the mound,
won his fourth straight decision Tuesday night as the Minnesota
Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2.
|  | | Eric Milton has stood tall in his last five starts, compiling a 4-0 record and 1.95 ERA. |
"It was supposed to be a fastball and it ended being a
changeup," Milton said of his acrobatic pitch to Dye in the second
inning. Milton ended up on the ground as Dye waved at strike three.
"There was no way he was watching the ball," Milton added.
"He had to be looking at me."
Milton (12-6) allowed two runs and five hits in seven-plus
innings, improving to 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his last five starts.
He has allowed 22 hits and struck out 28 in that span, pitching 37
innings.
Torii Hunter homered and drove in three runs and Jacque Jones
also homered for Minnesota, which has won seven of 12 games.
Milton has gone at least seven innings in each of his last six
starts.
"That's what the starters are supposed to do," said Minnesota
manager Tom Kelly, who celebrated his 50th birthday. "We need four
or five of those."
Mike Sweeney homered and drove in two runs for the Royals, who
lost their seventh straight game at the Metrodome dating to last
season.
"He throws a lot of fastballs and doesn't leave them over the
plate," Sweeney said of Milton. "He makes it tough on the
hitters."
Bob Wells pitched two perfect innings for his ninth save in 15
chances.
Jeff Suppan (6-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in seven
innings, losing for the first time in eight starts since June 25.
He had won four straight decisions.
Kansas City's Johnny Damon, who entered hitting .471
(64-for-136) since the All-Star break, was 1-for-4.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead on Ron Coomer's RBI single in the
first, and Jones homered in the second, his team-leading 17th.
"I got to a 3-2 count and wanted to go down and away," Suppan
said of the pitch Jones hit out. "But it went over the middle of
the plate -- it was a pretty good shot by him."
David Ortiz's sacrifice fly in the third made it 3-0.
Sweeney hit a solo shot off Milton in the sixth, giving him 20
homers. He added an RBI groundout in the eighth, tying a career
high with 102 RBI.
Corey Koskie led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and
Hunter drove him in with a single.
Hunter hit a two-run homer, his third home run in three games,
off Jerry Spradlin in the eighth to make it 6-2.
"Sometimes a home run can kill a threat," Hunter said.
In the fifth inning, Ortiz hit a high pop that was going foul
behind the plate, before it hit a speaker and was redirected into
play. Suppan caught the ball off the speaker in foul territory for
an out.
Twins right fielder Matt Lawton made a nice catch in the
seventh, leaping against the wall to catch David McCarty's flyball.
Lawton made another nice play to end the eighth on a sinking line
drive off Joe Randa's bat.
Game notes
Denny Hocking went 3-for-3 for Minnesota. ... Hunter is
hitting .379 in 16 games since being recalled from Triple-A Salt
Lake on July 29. ... Kansas City's Carlos Beltran, who was
suspended without pay for not reporting for a rehab assignment,
received only a partial amount of his salary on the first payday
since the suspension. Kansas City expects the players' association
to file a default notice with the commissioner's office. The Royals
would then pay Beltran, pending a grievance hearing, and would
deduct the money in the future if an arbitrator rules in their
favor. ... Milton has his second four-game winning streak of the
year. ... Milton and rookie left-hander Mark Redman (11 wins) have
combined for 23 of the Twins 55 victories (42 percent).
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Kansas City Clubhouse
Minnesota Clubhouse
Twins want to go outside -- this season
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 3
Boston 1
Anaheim 8
Toronto 4
Chi. White Sox 14
Baltimore 4
Minnesota 6
Kansas City 2
NY Yankees 10
Texas 2
Oakland 5
Cleveland 3
Detroit 9
Seattle 0
St. Louis 4
Chicago Cubs 2
NY Mets 7
Colorado 5
NY Mets 4
Colorado 3
(2nd game)
Florida 7
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 9
Montreal 7
Arizona 11
Philadelphia 6
Atlanta 3
San Diego 1
Houston 5
Pittsburgh 4
Milwaukee 2
Cincinnati 1
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