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      KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Danny Valencia's own grandchildren may
have trouble believing this story one day.


      Not only was his first major league home run a grand slam, it
came in a 19-1 victory. And on a night he went 4 for 4. And, topper
of toppers, it was off the reigning American League Cy Young winner
in a six-run first inning.

      The rookie third baseman, who didn't even homer in the minors
this year before being called up in early June, cleared the bases
against Zack Greinke in the first inning of Minnesota's rout of
Kansas City on Monday night.

      "What better way to start it off?" Valencia said with a big
grin. "Not just hit a home run, but a grand slam, and off a guy
who's an accomplished big leaguer and won the Cy Young. It was
great."

      Valencia didn't know he'd gone into the record book as the first
Minnesota Twin to hit a grand slam for his first major league
homer.

      "Really? That's awesome," he said. "Pretty cool."


      Joe Mauer did even better on a night the Twins set a season high
for runs and tied their season best with 20 hits. The AL's 2009 MVP
was 5 for 5 with a home run and a career-high seven RBIs.

      "It was just one of those nights where everything we swung at
started finding holes and going all over the place," said Twins
manager Ron Gardenhire. "A great night offensively for us. A lot
of people involved all the way up and down. You don't see that too
many times."

      Mauer had three singles, a double and a three-run home run that
made it 17-0 in the seventh. The five hits tied his career best.
The crowd booed in the eighth when Drew Butera pinch hit for him.


      "I asked him if he wanted another bat," said Gardenhire. "Do
you want to hit? He said, `No, I'm good.' That's good enough for
me."

      The Twins skipper is planning to give his All-Star catcher as
much rest as possible the second half of the season.

      "A big catcher like he is, a guy who's on the bases a little
more than most other catchers, if we can do that, we're going to do
that the best we can and hopefully get him through some of the
aches and pains that catchers go through this time of year,"
Gardenhire said.

      Five Twins had multihit games. Their 11 extra-base hits included
two home runs, two triples and seven doubles. Alexi Casilla had
three RBIs and scored three runs and Delmon Young had four hits, an
RBI and two runs scored.


      Wilson Betemit's RBI double off Anthony Slama with two out in
the ninth prevented the Royals from suffering their worst shutout
loss ever.

      Virtually unnoticed among the offensive fireworks was the best
game Francisco Liriano (9-7) has thrown all year. The Twins starter
threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits, with no
walks and six strikeouts.

      Greinke (6-10), who has been bothered by a sore shoulder, got
roughed up for eight hits and eight runs in just four innings, one
of the worst outings of his career, and dropped to 0-3 against
Minnesota this year.

      Valencia, a rookie third baseman, also scored four runs. His
grand slam capped a six-run first inning against the reigning Cy
Young winner.

      "You shouldn't have a game like this ever," said Greinke. "It
was just that bad. It was just a bad game. It was a bad everything.
It was just bad the whole time. My fastball was really bad. My
off-speed was OK, but every fastball was hit hard. Every time I
threw it in the strike zone, they hit it hard."


      Needing a triple for the cycle in his last at-bat in the eighth,
Valencia walked on a 3-2 pitch from Dustin Hughes, the fifth Kansas
City pitcher.

      "First home run a grand slam off Greinke, that's something to
write on the ball," said Gardenhire. "That young man's as good as
they get as far as pitchers go."

      In a prelude of what the night would hold, the Twins came within
a couple of inches of becoming just the fifth team since 1974 to
have its first four batters combine for the cycle.

      Jason Repko led off the game with a double, then trotted home
when Casilla tripled into right-center. After Mauer singled, Young
launched a Greinke fastball into deep left field. The ball was only
a few inches short of clearing the fence, and Young settled for an
RBI double.

      Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer struck out and Jason Kubel walked
before Valencia lashed a 3-1 pitch over the fence in left for a 6-0
lead.

      Kansas City's Jason Kendall became the fifth catcher in major
catcher in major league history to catch 2,000 games. The
36-year-old is in his 15th season.

 It was the fourth time Mauer had five hits, and the
second against Kansas City this year. ... Royals RHP Gil Meche gave
up seven runs on eight hits in four innings Monday in a rehab
assignment at Triple-A Omaha against New Orleans. ... KC SS
Yuniesky Betancourt was a late scratch because of a "personal
emergency."

Gallery

Sports

Minnesota Twins

Joe Mauer had five hits and a
career-best seven RBIs and Danny Valencia went 4 for 4 with a grand
slam for his first major league home run, leading Minnesota to a
19-1 rout Monday night over Kansas City.

Twins stomp Kansas City 19-1

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