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      KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Milestones and historic firsts just keep
piling up for both the happy Minnesota Twins and the battered
Kansas City Royals.

      Danny Valencia became the first Twins rookie ever to have four
hits in back-to-back games, equaling Monday's feat in an 11-2 win
Tuesday night. The night before in an even worse 19-1 drubbing,
he'd become the first Twins rookie to smack a grand slam for his
first major league homer.

      Altogether, the surging Twins also hit double-digits in runs for
a third straight game for the first time since June 11-13, 1967.


      But on the other side of the baseball diamond, the Royals are in
a horrible slump. Before the two lopsided losses to Minnesota, the
Royals were beaten 12-6 on Sunday by the New York Yankees. Never in
their history had they allowed this many runs (42) and hits (53) in
three consecutive games.

      "We need to do something," said Bruce Chen, who gave up 11 of
the Twins' 19 hits and six of their 11 runs. "We need to do
something soon."

      Valencia had three RBIs and Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and J.J.
Hardy all had two as the Twins totaled 19 hits one night after
getting 20. The Twins have won six of seven, and over their past
four games against Baltimore and Kansas City have rung up 47 runs
on a whopping 72 hits.

      Perhaps no one appreciates the way Minnesota hitters are tearing
it up more than Minnesota pitchers.

      "It's amazing," said Carl Pavano (13-6), who went five innings
and gave up five hits and one run while winning a career-best
eighth consecutive decision. "Just watching the at-bats and
watching the guys who are stepping up. You've got the usual guys
who get their knocks every night. But then you've got these younger
guys who are having big days."

      Valencia, the rookie third baseman who was 4 for 4 with a grand
slam Monday night, had two singles and a double in his first three
trips to the plate against Chen (5-5) but took a called third
strike from Robinson Tejeda in the seventh.

      "That was a bad at-bat," Valencia said. "But he made some
good pitches. You can't get a hit every time."

      Until then, he had nine hits in 10 at-bats going back to Sunday
in Baltimore. Then, facing Victor Marte in the eighth, he had an
RBI single, making him 4 for 5 with three singles and a double.


      "This is rare. It's definitely rare," he said. "It's great to
have, but it's something that probably could never come again. It's
been a great time for me and it's been a great time for the team.
We've been winning, and you couldn't ask for anything more."

      Mauer, who was 5 for 5 with seven RBIs Monday night, doubled and
scored in his first at-bat on Tuesday and was 2 for 4 with two
doubles and two RBIs.

      According to Royals manager Ned Yost, there is nothing
mysterious about the collapse of the pitching.

      "The problem that we're running into is we're throwing too many
pitches. We're not commanding the ball down in the zone," he said.
"We're not making quality pitches. The pitch counts are rising way
up and we're overexposing (the bullpen). Those guys are in there
every day. It runs into problems."

      It also doesn't help that the pitchers the last three games have
faced the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Mauer and
Valencia.

      "They are both great offensive lineups," said Yost. "You make
a bit of a mistake and they're going to crush it somewhere and
they've done that. Some of the pitches (the Twins) are driving to
the gap or hitting the ball out of the ballpark, they're all
mid-thigh and higher and a good part of the plate. That's just a
recipe for disaster."

      Pavano was not as sharp as he'd been while throwing a shutout
against Baltimore in his previous start. But he gave up only one
run on five hits in five innings, walking three and striking out
two and winning for the fifth time on the road. Jose Guillen's
sacrifice fly in the fifth was the first run Pavano had allowed in
18 straight innings.

      Chen was charged with six runs on 11 hits as the Royals lost for
the 12th time in 15 games and dropped into a last-place tie with
Cleveland in the AL Central.

      The Twins picked up right where they'd left off in Monday
night's rout, taking a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Cuddyer and
Valencia in the first.

      Cuddyer, Mauer, Delmon Young, Valencia, J.J. Hardy and Drew
Butera all had a multihit game for the Twins.


      In the third, Young doubled and went to third on Cuddyer's
single and Valencia and Hardy followed with RBI singles.


      Mauer, Young, Cuddyer and Valencia all had RBIs in the eighth.
J.J. Hardy had a solo homer in the seventh.


      NOTES: The old record for runs and hits allowed in three
straight games was 40 and 50. ... Cuddyer's first-inning single
stretched his hitting streak to 12 games. ... Pavano retired the
side in the fourth on eight pitches. ... Scott Podsednik's RBI
single in the sixth extended his hitting streak to 14 games,
matching his career-high.

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Sports

Minnesota Twins

Milestones and historic firsts just keep
piling up for both the happy Minnesota Twins and the battered
Kansas City Royals.

Valencia has 3 RBIs, Twins batter KC 11-2

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