Twins Shut Out Punchless Royals Again

Boof Bonser pitched six innings and Jason Kubel homered and scored twice, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 2-0 victory and a second straight shutout over the punchless Kansas City Royals last night. Bonser (1-2) did not give up a hit until Ross Gload singled with one out in the fifth. Constantly blowing into his hands as the wind chill registered in the mid-30s, the right-hander allowed three hits, two walks, and struck out four.

Kubel hit a solo shot off Brett Tomko (1-1) in the third. Tomko gave up six hits and two runs in six-plus innings, with one walk, one strikeout, and a painful stop of a hard grounder off his left leg that he somehow turned into an out. Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his fourth save as the Royals' scoreless streak reached 26 innings. (More MLB stories.)