Kansas City second baseman Alberto Callaspo (13) holds up from throwing to first after getting the force out at second on Minnesota’s Nick Punto. The Twins beat the Royals, 11-6, Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas City, Mo. — Denard Span kept his eye on the ball — and the scoreboard.
The Minnesota leadoff man got four hits and drove in a career-high six runs, sending the Twins past the Kansas City Royals, 11-6, Saturday night for their 11th victory in 12 games.
The Twins remained two games behind AL Central-leading Detroit, which beat Chicago, 12-5. Minnesota opens a four-game series against the Tigers on Monday night at Detroit.
It’s definitely a night when it just feels like nothing can go wrong,” Span said. “You see the ball and it seems like every pitch looks like a beachball. When you go to swing, you feel like it’s going to fall. I’ve never had six RBIs in a game at any level.”
The only thing that went wrong this night for the Twins was Chicago’s failure to hold a 5-0 lead over Detroit.
“Everybody in the dugout was looking at that,” Span said. “It’s kind of unfortunate. At the same time, we know we’ve got to take care of business. As long as we win, beat the Royals, we’ll see Detroit next week.”
The Twins batted around in a five-run fourth inning, highlighted by Span’s bases-loaded triple. Four runs were unearned after shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt’s wild throw, his fourth error in three games, allowed Delmon Young to reach first base and Jason Kubel to score.
“You can’t make those mistakes against a club that’s put runs on the board already and a very good starter out there,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “Too many unearned runs in a multiple-run fifth. Sometimes we don’t have the punch to get back in it. It takes a little wind out of your sails.”
Brendan Harris’ sacrifice fly drove in Michael Cuddyer with the other run in the inning.
“It seemed like every time I came up (Matt) Tolbert was on and (Nick) Punto had drawn a walk,” Span said. “They put me in good situations.”
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