The Minnesota Twins are playing without Joe Mauer on Monday night in Kansas City, but the Twins haven't had any problems scoring runs. Through four and a half innings, three home runs have helped the Twins to a 7-4 lead on the Royals.
Josh Willingham lit up the scoreboard first with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. Willingham now has 11 home runs and 38 runs batted in on the season.
The Twins added another run in the top of the second inning on a single by Jamey Carroll, who also tripled in a run in the fourth.
After the Royals tied the game at 4-4 with three runs in the home half of the third, the Twins responded with three of their own in the top of the fifth behind a two-run home run from Justin Morneau and a solo blast by Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe's home run chased Royals' starter Will Smith from the game.
There have been four home runs in the game, as Mike Moustakas cut the Twins' lead to 3-1 with a solo homer in the bottom of the second for the Royals.
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