AMERICAN LEAGUE : Appier Solves the Twins, 6-0

Kevin Appier pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 or more for the 10th time in his career, and Greg Gagne and Phil Hiatt hit two-run homers Thursday as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 6-0.

Appier (3-0) struck out 12, coming up one short of his career high and extending his team record for games with double-digit strikeouts. He allowed five hits in seven innings, lowering his ERA from 0.71 ERA 0.46.

The game drew a paid attendance of 11,935 after crowds under 9,000 the previous two nights.

Appier, who had a no-hitter on opening day but left after 6 2-3 innings, gave up a two-out single in the first and struggled in the third and fourth innings. But he pitched out of those jams, retiring 12 of 13 after Jerald Clark’s one-out double in the fourth.

Dilson Torres finished with two-hit relief.

Gagne hit his first homer of the year--and his first career homer against the team with which he spent his first 10 big-league seasons--to make it 4-0 in the fourth. Hiatt’s second of the year made it 6-0 in the seventh.

Rookie LaTroy Hawkins (0-2) came into the game with a 37.80 ERA after his major league debut, and he surrendered two runs in the first inning. But he lasted 5 2-3 innings, giving up four runs--three earned--on six hits. That lowered his ERA to 12.27.

Wally Joyner’s two-out double started the Royals in the first. Bob Hamelin walked and both scored when Gary Gaetti’s single was misplayed into a triple by left fielder Marty Cordova.

Left fielder Michael Tucker, whose error Wednesday night turned a Chuck Knoblauch line drive into a two-run, inside-the-park homer, gave the Twins a chance in the fourth when he misplayed Clark’s long drive. Tucker was in position to make the catch at the warning track, but never touched the ball and it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.

But with runners at second and third, Appier got Scott Leius to pop to second and struck out Dave McCarty to end the threat. Appier then struck out the side in the fifth.