MINNEAPOLIS_Ahead of Saturday's game, Byron Buxton had a rather obvious response as to what it was like following Joe Mauer in the batting order.
"Very nice. He gets up there. He competes, has quality at bats," Buxton said. "That's what leads me to go up there and follow him. Go up there and have a quality at bat and see what happens.
"One hit leads to another, and then that's when the big innings start."
Just hours later, Mauer, Buxton and the rest of the Minnesota Twins lineup proved that platitude, well, 17 times.
The Twins trounced the Kansas City Royals 17-0 on Saturday at Target Field in front of an announced 33,413 and have a chance to close out the three-game series at 1:10 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday's 17 runs were the most in a shutout victory in Twins history.
In just the first two innings, the Twins scored 10 runs, starting with an RBI double from Mauer in his first at bat. Buxton followed up with an RBI triple. Jorge Polanco came through with an RBI double. And, well, it essentially went on from there.
Mauer, though, extended his hitting streak to 11 games, a season-high. And with another RBI single in the second inning, he tied Justin Morneau with 860, fifth-most in Twins history. By the time Twins manager Paul Molitor replaced him in the seventh inning, Mauer had four hits, two runs and two RBI in four at-bats. His batting average climbed to .303, which is the first time he's been above .300 since 2013, when he switched from catcher to first base.
"We know what he's done on the baseball field this year and what he's done during his career," Molitor said of Mauer before the game. "I just think we've seen him locked in for the majority of the season, and obviously, there's been a little bit of an uptick through the month of August. But what I like that Joe brings is he's the same guy every day. He doesn't get caught up in the big game or the big moment. He's the same, and I think that's something that has resonated with a lot of the young guys, to be able to model themselves in that type of mindset of how you go about being successful in this game."
Speaking of a young guy, Buxton, back in the lineup after a two-game absence from a bruised bone in his hand, garnered three hits, three runs and two RBI in his five at-bats.
Polanco managed the RBI double and RBI single in his five at bats, while Mitch Garver nabbed his first career RBI off a single in the first inning.
Brian Dozier powered home a three-run home run in the fourth inning, his 27th. Not to be outdone, Eduardo Escobar hit a solo homer in the fifth and a three-run shot in the seventh to bring his total to 14 and give him his second career two-homer game. Escobar also had a RBI triple in the second.
Pitcher Kyle Gibson (9-10), who has struggled with consistency, was coming off back-to-back solid starts for the first time in recent memory, and now he can add a third. Gibson started the game with a one-two-three inning, including two strikeouts, to set up the shutout.
In Gibson's six innings, he had five hits and five strikeouts.
"There's been times this year where we've said, 'What is he doing now to make himself have better success?' And then he's reverted back. And then he steps forward," Molitor said before the game. "But his response the last couple games has been a huge lift for us. We just hope that he can have a good month here in September and fill that spot in the rotation the way that we know that he can."
Niko Goodrum also made his major league debut, becoming the 13th Twin to do so this year.
