Affeldt Does Royal Number on Twins

MINNEAPOLIS —  Jeremy Affeldt gave the Kansas City Royals a lift when they needed it most.

Affeldt struck out eight, a career high, and Carlos Beltran homered to help the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, Monday night in the opener of a four-game series between the top two teams in the American League Central.

The first-place Royals improved to 17-3 against division opponents and 3-0 against the Twins -- all three decided by one run. Kansas City is 3 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota.

“Last year we had good battles with them,” Affeldt said. “We knew coming in that all four games are going to be battles.”

Affeldt (3-1) pitched six innings, his longest outing this season, giving up two runs and seven hits. He struck out Jacque Jones three times.

“He came with it tonight,” said Torii Hunter, who homered for the Twins. “He was throwing some gas. He did his job getting the lefties -- and some of the righties too.”