Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3
When: 8:10 PM ET, Thursday, September 13, 2012
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 73°
Umpires: Home - Mike Estabrook, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Jerry Layne, 3B - Dan Bellino
Attendance: 28669

Twins 4, Royals 3 (10): Denard Span hit a game-winning double in the 10th inning after Trevor Plouffe homered in the bottom of the ninth and host Minnesota salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Alexi Casilla led off the 10th with a double past a diving Lorenzo Cain in right-center field before Span hit a fly ball off Francisley Bueno (1-1) over the head of Eric Hosmer in right field, allowing Casilla to score easily.

Plouffe forced extra innings with his 21th homer off Greg Holland with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Glen Perkins (3-1) earned the win with two scoreless innings.

Salvador Perez had a two-run single and Billy Butler had an RBI double off Liam Hendriks, who allowed three runs over five frames and remained winless in 17 major league starts.

Josh Willingham belted a solo homer to left-center field in the bottom of the first off Luis Mendoza for his 34th home run. Kansas City was attempting to sweep Minnesota at home for the first time since May 7-10, 1999, when the Royals won all four games.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Perez extended his hitting streak to 17 games with his first-inning single. His streak is the longest in franchise history by a catcher, three better than Jason Kendall and Darrell Porter. … Twins C Joe Mauer missed his third straight game with back spasms. ... Cain left the game with an apparent leg injury in the 10th inning.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Kansas City   Minnesota
Luis Mendoza Player Liam Hendriks
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 5.0
6 Strikeouts 3
2 Hits 7
1.50 ERA 5.40
Hitting
Kansas City   Minnesota
Billy Butler Player Trevor Plouffe
2 Hits 2
1 RBI 1
0 HR 1
3 TB 5
.400 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Kansas City 8 0 13 .216 17 9 3 5 1 0
Minnesota 7 2 15 .219 10 9 4 4 0 0