Royals Avoid Sweep by Twins

Rey Sanchez hit a leadoff triple in the 10th inning and Carlos Beltran followed with a run-scoring fly ball as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, Wednesday night.

The Royals, who lost the first two games of the series, avoided getting swept at home by Minnesota for the first time in 11 years.

Terry Mathews (1-0), recalled from triple-A Omaha earlier in the day, pitched two hitless innings for his first major league victory since 1997 while with Baltimore.

Eddie Guardado (0-1) relieved Twin starter Brad Radke to begin the ninth.

Johnny Damon led off Royal ninth with a double. One out later, he tried to score from second base on Chad Kreuter’s long fly, but was thrown out at the plate on a relay from center fielder Torii Hunter to second baseman Todd Walker to catcher Terry Steinbach.

The Twins got a run in the first when Walker hit a leadoff single and later scored on Marty Cordova’s groundout.

Jermaine Dye hit an RBI triple off the wall in right-center in the fourth, then gave the Royals a 2-1 lead on Steve Scarsone’s RBI single.

Hunter tied it at 2-2 in the sixth with his second home run, a 380-foot drive over the fence in left.

Radke and Royal starter Kevin Appier both pitched eight innings, each allowing two runs and seven hits.

The Royals turned in two outstanding defensive plays. Beltran robbed Cordova of a two-run homer in the fourth, leaping to catch the ball as it sailed over the nine-foot wall in center.

The Twins had one on and one out after Hunter’s home run in the sixth and Doug Mientkiewicz hit a hard grounder behind second. Sanchez made a backhanded stop and flipped the ball back-handed to second baseman Carlos Febles, who made the relay just in time for Kansas City’s third double play of the night.

AROUND THE LEAGUE / Pichardo Lost for the Season

The Royals lost Hipolito Pichardo for the season after the right-hander was scheduled to undergo exploratory surgery on his right elbow Friday.

Pichardo was placed on the disabled list April 1 because of right elbow soreness. The severity of the injury will be determined after the surgery.

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Minnesota Twin assistant general manager Joe McIlvaine, 51, paid a fine for sunbathing nude on a public beach in Jensen Beach, Fla., and will keep his job with the team, General Manager Terry Ryan said.