MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 6 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Monday, April 1.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs.  David Ortiz was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and a walk.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts.  Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning.  Eddie Guardado walked two but still pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Neifi Perez was 3-for-5 with a triple.  Mike Sweeney was 2-for-4 with a double.  Carlos Beltran was 1-for-3 with a triple.

The game:  Jones and Ortiz each homered in the first inning and Buchanan homered in the second to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.  A sacrifice fly put the Royals on the board in the second and Sweeney hit a two-run double in a three-run third that gave Kansas City a 4-3 advantage.  Back-to-back RBI triples by Perez and Beltran made it 6-3 in the fifth.  Torii Hunter hit the Twins' fourth solo homer in the sixth to cut the margin to 6-4.  In the seventh, Jones hit a three-run homer to put the Twins back in the lead and a bases-loaded walk later in the inning provided an insurance run, making the score 8-6.  The Royals put the tying run on base in the ninth, as Guardado issued two-out walks to Carlos Febles and Chuck Knoblauch, but Perez flied out to end the game.

WP:  Romero.  LP:  Cory Bailey.  S:  Guardado.

Notes:  Buchanan was in right field.  Otherwise, the starters were the ones who would be the regulars all season...Brad Radke started and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits and no walks with two strikeouts...Kansas City's starter was Jeff Suppan, who pitched six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and no walks with three strikeouts...Ex-Twin Knoblauch started in left field, having left the infield due to his throwing problems.  This would be his last season, and he would hit just .210 with a .584 OPS.

Record:  The Twins were 1-0, tied for first with Chicago and Cleveland.