Hernandez pitches Twins past Royals 5-0

Minnesota Twins' Delmon Young slides into third base during the second inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, April 11, 2008. Young took third base on a wild pitch by Royals starting pitcher Gil Meche. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Livan Hernandez scattered seven hits over seven innings to win his third straight start, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Friday night.

Six of the hits Hernandez allowed were singles. He struck out three and walked one, lowered his earned run average to 2.57, and is 3-0 for the first time since 2002, when he won his first four starts for San Francisco.

Carlos Gomez doubled, tripled and drove in two runs, while Justin Morneau homered to lead off the third inning on the first pitch from Gil Meche. Morneau also hit a three-run homer off Meche last Saturday in a 6-4 Twins victory.

The Twins sent eight men to the plate in a four-run second, highlighted by Gomez's double that scored Brendan Harris and Denard Span. Span drove in Delmon Young for the first run of the inning and Span's first career RBI, and Gomez scored on Matt Tolbert's two-out single.

Tolbert had his first career three-hit game and has a six-game hitting streak.

Meche (0-3) was pulled after six innings. He allowed five runs on five hits and four walks, while striking out six. Meche, who signed a $55 million contract before last season, watched his ERA rise to 7.13.

The Royals, who were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, loaded the bases in the fifth with one out, but Hernandez struck out Jose Guillen swinging and retired Billy Butler on a grounder to third.

Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan completed the shutout, holding Kansas City to two hits over the final two innings. The Royals have failed to score in their past 17 innings.

Butler singled in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to 10 games and matching his career high. But he was thrown out at second when he attempted to stretch it to a double.

Alex Gordon had two of the Royals' eight hits and has a six-game hitting streak.

Notes: It was 41 degrees for the first pitch, but with a 15 mph northwest wind the wind chill factor was 31. ... The Royals are 5-1 against the Yankees and Tigers, but 1-3 against the Twins.