Kansas City, Mo. ? Brian Bannister had a plan against the Minnesota Twins and Francisco Liriano, and it worked out perfectly.

As a result, the Kansas City Royals snapped a three-game losing streak on a frigid Sunday afternoon with a 5-1 victory over the Twins and Liriano, who was making his first major-league appearance in 17 months.

“I knew Liriano was coming back from an injury, he was rehabbing,” said Bannister (3-0), who went nine innings and allowed only three hits. “My goal was to get on and off the field as fast as possible and keep him out there, because I knew he was going to get tired. I’ve been in that situation before.”

Performing almost as briskly as the stiff breeze that dropped the wind chill to 29 degrees at game time, Bannister pitched the second complete game of his career, giving up only one walk and one unearned run. He struck out three.

Liriano (0-1), an All-Star as a rookie sensation in 2006 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, gave up six hits, walked five and struck out four. Just as Bannister predicted, the big left-hander tired. Nevertheless, his 42â3 innings made for an encouraging day.

“I asked him how he felt after 17 months of being out of the big leagues, and he said, ‘Cold. Very cold,”‘ Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “His velocity was good. His arm was good. And we can build on that.”