Kansas City, Mo. ? Denny Hocking fills many roles for the Minnesota Twins: infielder, outfielder, player representative.

On Saturday, he provided the big hits, too.

Hocking had three doubles and two runs scored as the Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-5.

“Anytime you put him in the lineup, you know you’re going to get a guy who is going to catch the ball,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “The bonus is when he gets base hits.

“He does very well in his role. He knocked the ball around the ballpark today and made a couple of nice plays, too. It was a good day for Denny.”

Gardenhire is not concerned about Hocking’s being too wrapped up in the labor negotiations and taking his mind away from baseball.

“I don’t know if Denny’s ever worried about baseball,” Gardenhire said. “This is like part-time for him. The rest of the stuff he does for this ball club, that’s his job. ‘Oh, I’ve got to play today,’ that is Denny.”

Hocking became the first Twins player to double three times in a game since Torii Hunter on July 8, 2001, against Cincinnati.

“It’s tough to make the lineup when the two positions I play the guys are playing really well.”

Cristian Guzman extended his hitting streak to 23 games. Guzman has the longest current string in the majors and the longest for the Twins since Marty Cordova’s 23-game streak in 1996.

Paul Byrd (14-10) remained winless in five starts since July 29.