NewsRoyals rally, but allow eight in seventh
Bannister gives up go-ahead homer; Farnsworth yields five
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
08/23/09 7:55 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Harmon Killebrew never did it. Nor did Kent Hrbek or Kirby Puckett or any of the Twins' biggest home run hitters.But, on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, Michael Cuddyer became the first Twins hitter to bang two homers in the same inning. He started and ended the scoring in an eight-run seventh inning that swamped the Royals, 10-3.
"That's pretty impressive, not too many guys have done that," the Royals' Mike Jacobs said.
In fact, according to the archives, this was just the 53rd time since the Major Leagues began in 1876 that this has been accomplished. It was the 23rd time in the American League; there have been 30 instances in the National League.
"Obviously it was a very special day," Cuddyer said. "A very special scenario that happened. And we got the win on top of that. It's a pretty good day."
The most recent Major Leaguer to do it was Boston's David Ortiz on Aug. 12, 2008, in the first inning against Texas. Jeff King did it twice for Pittsburgh, Willie McCovey did it twice for San Francisco and Andre Dawson did it twice for Montreal. No Royals player has done it even once.
Under a cloudless sky with the temperature a delightful 76, Royals starter Brian Bannister had just been put in charge of a 1-1 tie when the Twins began to darken his day. The Royals used a double by David DeJesus and Jacobs' two-out single to pull even against Twins right-hander Carl Pavano in the sixth inning.
But Cuddyer belted Bannister's first pitch of the seventh over the left-field bullpen, 393 feet away.
"He started me off the at-bat before with a curveball," Cuddyer said. "So I was looking something soft, and I was able to get a curveball and I didn't miss it."
And the Twins didn't stop there, either. Brendan Harris doubled and scored on Delmon Young's single, both hits rocketing past third baseman Mark Teahen and ending Bannister's outing.
"The seventh inning was disappointing," Bannister said. "I haven't had a couple of good games recently and I went out and pitched six strong innings and came out for the seventh and Cuddyer guessed right on the curveball. I made the pitch, but he was all over it and that was disappointing to get down right away. And then two balls that just missed being hit right at Teahen and my day was done."
Teahen thought he might have grabbed Young's sizzler.
"I feel like I should make it, but I hold myself in pretty high respect," Teahen said. "He hit it hard, but that's what I'm down there to do. As the inning went on and on, obviously that was an out we'd liked to have had."
Oh, indeed because Kyle Farnsworth came out of the bullpen and, before he was through, the Twins had collected five more hits and six more runs. Carlos Gomez got an infield single and Alexi Casilla bunted safely to load the bases. Denard Span promptly unloaded them with a sharp bouncer past first base that rolled for a triple.
Span scored on a sacrifice fly, Joe Mauer singled and Jason Kubel struck out. But Cuddyer wouldn't let the inning end just yet and gave the 18,680 fans more than they bargained for. He crushed a 1-1 cutter that was up and over the plate and sent it into the Fountain Seats 427 feet away, a two-run shot.
"I can't really tell you I was looking for anything in particular, I just saw a pitch and reacted to it," Cuddyer said.
So now a 1-1 game had become a 9-1 game and the Twins were headed for a three-game sweep, and the Royals toward their fourth straight loss.
They huffed and puffed a bit in their half of the seventh, filling the bases against Pavano, but they got just one run on DeJesus' sacrifice fly.
"We came right back out and got the bases loaded and unfortunately, we didn't get a big hit," Jacobs said. "It would've been interesting if we could've maybe put something in the gap and move guys around."
There were some gaffes by the Royals. Teahen, rushing because a runner was breaking off third base, botched Orlando Cabrera's grounder in the third inning to allow the Twins' first run. And DeJesus, on second base with his sixth-inning double, didn't advance to third on Brayan Pena's bunt to the mound. Instead, he stood fast as Pavano threw out Pena.
"The ball was bunted almost straight in the direction David was and that can make it difficult depth perception-wise," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "He still should have been able to read it. He should have been at third base on that."
Fortunately for DeJesus, Jacobs sent him home when he singled into center field for the 1-1 tie.
But, in short order, Cuddyer stole the show. Against the Royals this year he's at .326 (14-for-43) with five homers and 12 RBIs.
"He's having a strong year obviously," Hillman said. "He's a run-producer. Last year he was hampered by some injuries, but what I see this year is a lot more patience. I see him, even if he's ahead in the count by two pitches, taking more pitches this season which has made him a more effective and dangerous hitter."
Against Bannister in his career, Cuddyer is hitting .421 (8-for-19).
"You don't want to be part of history but it seems like as a pitcher, you're a part of history when it's somebody else's home run," Bannister said.
"But you give credit to the hitter because it's not easy to do. You still have to guess right and make contact and be all over that pitch. He was locked in in that seventh inning."
And the Royals were locked out.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
