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.