Twins erupt in 6th

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Kansas City Royals have struggled to find reliable relievers. The Minnesota Twins are having no such problems.

Torii Hunter went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and the Minnesota bullpen was unscored upon again as the Twins beat Kansas City 8-5 Tuesday night.

Minnesota scored four times in the sixth against reliever Blake Stein to take an 8-5 lead.

"We're always having a bad inning out of the bullpen," said Royals manager Tony Muser, whose team has blown 78 saves since the start of the 1999 season. "That's hurt us."

Many thought relief pitching would be the Twins' biggest problem this year, but instead it's been their strength. Their bullpen is 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA and six saves in six chances over the first 14 games.

"If it wasn't for our bullpen, who knows where we'd be," said Twins starter Rick Reed, who allowed five runs, seven hits and three walks in 3 1-3 innings.

Minnesota's rotation, thought to be the strength of the team with four pitchers who have been All-Stars, is 5-5 with a 7.56 ERA and has averaged fewer than five innings per outing.

"You have to be proud of our bullpen," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They're pulling us along right now. I want my starters going deeper into games and doing more, and they will do that. As we get going, our starters will be our strength."

Tony Fiore (1-0) kept Reed's line from swelling by striking out Mike Sweeney and retiring Michael Tucker on a deep fly to right with the bases loaded in the fourth.

J.C. Romero and Mike Jackson bridged the gap between Fiore and Eddie Guardado, who struck out two in a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

"We had some opportunities against Reed to do some more damage and we didn't do it," Kansas City's Joe Randa said. "When you're playing here, you need as many runs as you can get."

Corey Koskie had two hits and two RBIs for the Twins in their fourth straight win.

"They're a scrappy little team and they're never out of it," Muser said.

Sweeney had three hits and an RBI and Tucker and Randa each drove in two runs for the Royals, who lost their third in a row and sixth straight to the Twins.

Kansas City starter Dan Reichert gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings but watched Stein (0-1) blow a 5-4 lead.

KANSAS CITY MINNESOTA

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Knblch lf 5 0 2 0 JJones lf 4 0 2 1

NPerez ss 5 1 1 0 CGzmn ss 4 0 1 1

Beltran cf 3 2 1 0 Mntkw 1b 4 0 0 0

MiSwy 1b 5 2 3 1 DOrtiz dh 3 2 1 0

Tucker rf 4 0 1 2 THnter cf 4 3 3 0

Randa 3b 3 0 2 2 Koskie 3b 4 1 2 2

Ibanez dh 2 0 0 0 Mohr rf 4 1 2 1

McCty dh 1 0 0 0 Prince c 1 0 0 0

Mayne c 4 0 0 0 Przyns c 3 1 1 2

Febles 2b 2 0 0 0 Hcking 2b 4 0 1 0

Alicea 2b 1 0 0 0

Totals 35 5 10 5 Totals 35 8 13 7

Kansas City 302 000 000 -- 5

Minnesota 020 204 00x -- 8

E--Febles (1). DP--Kansas City 1, Minnesota 1. LOB--Kansas City 9, Minnesota 6. 2B--Knoblauch (3), Beltran (4), Tucker (1), JJones (3), Koskie (4), Mohr (2). 3B--Randa (1). SB--CGuzman (3). CS--Randa (1). SF--Randa, JJones.

IP H R ER BB SO

Kansas City

Reichert 5 7 4 4 2 2

Stein L,0-1 1-3 5 4 4 0 0

Field 1 2-3 0 0 0 0 2

BShouse 1 1 0 0 0 0

Minnesota

RReed 3 1-3 7 5 5 3 1

Fiore W,1-0 2 2-3 1 0 0 0 2

Romero 1 1-3 1 0 0 1 3

MJackson 2-3 1 0 0 0 1

Guardado S,6 1 0 0 0 0 2

HBP--by RReed (Febles). WP--Reichert.

Umpires--Home, Paul Emmel; First, Tim Timmons; Second, Steve Rippley; Third, Gary Darling.

T--2:55. A--12,013 (48,678).