Mauer Homers, Nolasco Pitches Twins Past Royals

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer hit his first home run of the season and free-agent acquisition Ricky Nolasco earned his first win for the Minnesota Twins in a 7-1 victory Saturday over the Kansas City Royals.

A day after getting his first RBI of the year, Mauer drove in three more runs against Kansas City starter James Shields. Brian Dozier had a leadoff homer for Minnesota, which has scored the second-most runs in the American League.

Nolasco (1-1) showed why the Twins signed him to a $49 million, four-year contract to steady their rotation. The right-hander gave up five runs in each of his first two outings for his new team, but was on top of his game Saturday in his first home start for Minnesota. Nolasco went eight innings and allowed five hits with four strikeouts.

Shields (0-2) yielded seven runs — one earned — in 5 2-3 innings. He gave up six hits and walked three while striking out five.