Minneapolis ? The Minnesota Twins scored the winning run in the 10th inning on a bizarre play, with Corey Koskie being hit by a throw as he ran down the first-base line for a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

The AL Central leaders won their fifth in a row and improved to 19-4 since the All-Star break. Kansas City lost its sixth straight game.

The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the 10th and Koskie pulled a grounder down the line. First baseman Chan Perry made a diving stop, tagged the bag with his glove and got up to throw home from foul ground.

But Perry’s throw nailed Koskie in the chest, allowing Torii Hunter to score.

Koskie, who was more than halfway down the baseline, stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes and then was driven off the field on a cart.

Even with an accurate toss, Perry had little chance to get the speedy Hunter.

The Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th against Scott Mullen (3-3) on singles by Hunter and David Ortiz and a four-pitch walk to Dustan Mohr.

Jason Grimsley relieved and left fielder Michael Tucker came in as a fifth infielder, playing in front of second base. Grimsley struck out Doug Mientkiewicz before Koskie won it.

J.C. Romero (7-1) escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the 10th. He got Aaron Guiel on a grounder with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The Twins scored the tying run in the ninth on shortstop Neifi Perez’s two-out throwing error.

Koskie drew a leadoff walk from Roberto Hernandez and stole second. Luis Rivas singled with one out, and center fielder Carlos Beltran threw out Koskie at the plate.

Rivas took second on the play, and Jacque Jones followed with an infield single that Perez fielded in the hole. Perez’s throw skipped past Perry, scoring Rivas.

Beltran hit his first career inside-the-park home run and the first for the Royals since Johnny Damon on Aug. 25, 1999.

Beltran scored without a throw when Hunter and Mohr ran into each other chasing the first-inning drive.

Luis Rivas hit a two-run homer in the third inning to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. Rivas, who homered in the 10th inning Saturday for a 4-3 win, has hit five of his 10 career homers against Kansas City.

The Royals took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on Tucker’s RBI triple and Perry’s RBI single. The Twins tied it in the bottom half when Mientkiewicz singled home Mohr.

Guiel hit an RBI double in the seventh to give the Royals a 4-3 lead.

Notes:@ The Twins beat Kansas City by one run for the third straight day. … The Royals have not scored more than four runs in a game since July 21, during which time they’ve lost 11 of 13. … Tucker’s stolen base in the sixth inning gave him a career-high 17. … Rookie Michael Cuddyer got his first career start at third base, replacing Koskie. … The Twins extended their errorless streak to 12 games. … Ortiz extended his hitting streak to 17 games. … The last inside-the-park home run against the Twins came on Sept. 6, 1996, off the bat of Anaheim’s Darin Erstad.