But the Twins hit a bunch of bouncers to scrape together a wild rally in the ninth inning against Wickman (1-2).
Johan Santana avoided his third straight defeat, but has still only received more than three runs of support in four of his 14 starts this year. Santana struck out nine batters and gave up only five hits in seven innings.
Royals 17, Cardinals 8
At Kansas City, Missouri, Mark Teahen had two triples and five RBIs, Tony Pena Jr had four hits and Kansas City got its first series win at home against St. Louis in six years.
Thirteen batters went to the plate in the eight-run second inning and 10 batted in the six-run fourth for Kansas City.
The Royals have averaged 9.57 runs in their seven wins this month. In six losses, they average 1.5 runs.
David DeJesus and Emil Brown both had three RBIs and Alex Gordon homered for the second night in a row.
Kip Wells (2-11), who leads the majors in losses, was charged with six runs on three hits and four walks in 1 1-3 innings.
Royals starter Scott Elarton was almost equally ineffective, lasting only two-plus innings and allowing six runs and five hits with three walks. Reliever Zack Greinke (4-4) pitched four innings and gave up a run and four hits for the win.
RSS