KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The hunt is on Kansas City, for October playoff baseball at Kauffman Stadium. On the heels of the club’s best road trip in its history, the Royals beat the Twins 13-0 on Monday night and have now won 12 of its last 13 games. Jeremy Guthrie tossed a four-hit, complete game shutout, striking out seven Twins.
Eric Hosmer led the offensive charge with three hits and five RBIs, including a three-run homer to center field in the sixth inning. The Royals chased Twins starter Kevin Correia after only two innings. In all they got 16 hits, the only starters that didn’t score or drive in a run were Alex Gordon and Miguel Tejada.
The fans have noticed the Royals’ hot play of late. Team officials told FOX 4’s Eric Burke that the walk-up crowd totaled nearly 7,000 tickets sold. A standard Monday night only draws about 3,000 walk-up fans.
The Royals also picked up a full game on Cleveland in the AL Wild Card standings to pull within 3.5 games of the final postseason spot. The Indians lost after the Detroit Tigers scored four times in the ninth en route to a 4-2 victory.
James Shields will toe the rubber for the Royals in game two of three against the Twins on Tuesday night. The hitters will look to stay hot against Andrew Albers, who is making his season debut.
As the stretch run heats up, follow along with us on Twitter and use the the hastag: #FOX4OCT as the Royals fight to play in October.