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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Brad Radke was not at his best Sunday.
He did enough, though, to become the majors' first six-game winner.
Radke scattered seven hits over 8 1-3 innings to lead the
Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
|  | | Twins starting Brad Radke lowered his ERA to 2.22, the second best in the American League. |
"I made a lot of mistakes," Radke said. "A lot of guys got
themselves out. This probably wasn't my best game. Three or four
guys made nice plays behind me."
Luis Rivas had three hits, including a home run, for Minnesota,
which improved to 21-8, its best start since the 1979 team began
the season with the same record.
Radke (6-0) lowered his ERA to 2.22, which ranks second in the
AL. He struck out five and walked none. He has walked only four of
the 206 batters he has faced this season.
"I don't strike out a lot of guys, so I need to cut my walks
down," Radke said.
He threw 22 first-pitch strikes to the 33 Royals batters he
faced.
"He's a strike thrower, but not a strikeout pitcher," Royals
manager Tony Muser said. "He has three real good pitches. He never
shows a tendency."
Twins closer LaTroy Hawkins, who blew his first save in 24
career chances on Saturday, replaced Radke after he allowed one-out
singles to Joe Randa and Mark Quinn in the ninth inning.
Hawkins walked a batter but got the final two outs for his 10th
save this season, getting Hector Ortiz to fly out with the bases
loaded to end it.
Radke gave up three singles in the first two innings, then
retired 10 straight before allowing a run in the sixth inning.
"Radke's control wasn't as sharp as it has been, although I
know it didn't look that way," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "Our
defense made some nice plays. We did just enough on the offensive
side to win, to get the job done."
Cristian Guzman led off the game with his major-league leading
seventh triple, and scored on Doug Mientkiewicz' sacrifice fly to
give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Rivas' solo shot with one out in the
sixth made it 2-0.
Radke hit Luis Alicea leading off the sixth, and Alicea
eventually came around to score on Jermaine Dye's sacrifice fly.
The Twins – helped by Dee Brown's fielding error on Tom Prince's
fly to shallow center, and reliever Jason Grimsley's wild pitch – added two runs in the eighth.
"I thought I had it, but it popped out of my glove," Brown
said. "It's definitely my fault."
Chad Durbin (0-2), called up from the minors on Tuesday, nearly
matched Radke, but took the loss. Durbin, who gave up seven earned
runs in four innings to Cleveland his first start Tuesday, gave up
four runs, three earned, on eight hits in 7 1-3 innings before
being replaced by Grimsley.
"Durbin had pretty good stuff, a pretty good curveball, threw
pretty hard and had a good change up," Radke said. "I knew it was
going to be a close game after the first few innings. He looked
sharp out there."
Trenidad Hubbard snapped an 0-for-15 drought by Royals pinch
hitters this season by leading off the eighth with a triple. He
scored on Rey Sanchez' sacrifice fly.
Game notes
Hawkins wasted a two-run lead in the ninth inning Saturday,
allowing the Royals to rally for a 12-10 victory in 12 innings. ...
Mientkiewicz went 1-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice fly to
raise his average to .404. ... Sanchez's sacrifice bunt in the
first inning was his major league-leading sixth. ... The Royals
lost for the first time on a Sunday. They had been 4-0.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 10
Tampa Bay 3
NY Yankees 2
Baltimore 1
Minnesota 4
Kansas City 2
Chi. White Sox 10
Texas 5
Anaheim 3
Detroit 2
Toronto 11
Seattle 3
Boston 5
Oakland 4
Atlanta 7
St. Louis 5
Florida 5
Milwaukee 1
Arizona 8
NY Mets 2
San Diego 8
Cincinnati 2
Houston 13
Montreal 7
Philadelphia 10
San Francisco 8
Pittsburgh 4
Colorado 3
Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles 2
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