The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 8-4 at Target Field Thursday night.  Minnesota fell behind 3-0 before scoring 4 runs in the 5th inning capped by Trevor Plouffe's 2-run homerun.  Delmon Young went 3-4 with a run scored and 1 RBI and Joe Mauer drove in 2 runs for the Twins.  Francisco Liriano allowed 7 hits and 3 runs (1 earned) in 7 innings to get the win and improve to 6-7.

Minnesota is 42-48 and is 6 games back of Detroit and Cleveland for first place in the American League Central.  The Twins host Kansas City again tonight at 7:10, pregame on WJON at 6:40.  Righthander Nick Blackburn (7-6) gets the start on the mound for the Twins and righthander Luke Hochevar (5-8) toes the rubber for the Royals.

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