Kansas City, Mo. ? After seeing a curveball on the first pitch of his previous at-bat, Michael Cuddyer was looking for something soft. He got it and hit it out. Next at-bat, Cuddyer saw a pitch and reacted to it. Same result.

Two pitches, two approaches, one piece of history.

Cuddyer homered twice in Minnesota’s eight-run seventh inning, and Denard Span added a three-run triple, helping the Twins turn a close game into a 10-3 rout over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

A pitching duel between Twins starter Carl Pavano and Brian Bannister turned ugly in a hurry in the seventh, when Cuddyer hit the first pitch for a homer, then added a two-run shot that put the Twins up, 9-1. Playing his sixth straight game in place of Justin Morneau (ear infection), Cuddyer became the first Twins player to hit two homers in an inning and the first in the majors since Boston’s David Ortiz did it against Texas last August.

“A very special day and a very special scenario that happened,” Cuddyer said after going deep twice in an inning for the first time on any level. “It was a pretty cool day.”

And an important one for the Twins.

Pavano pitched seven solid innings, Orlando Cabrera drove in two runs and the Twins had 14 hits.