KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Livan Hernandez scattered seven hits over seven innings to win his third straight start, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Friday night.

Six of the hits Hernandez allowed were singles. He struck out three and walked one, lowered his earned run average to 2.57, and is 3-0 for the first time since 2002, when he won his first four starts for San Francisco.

Carlos Gomez doubled, tripled and drove in two runs, while Justin Morneau homered to lead off the third inning on the first pitch from Gil Meche. Morneau also hit a three-run homer off Meche last Saturday in a 6-4 Twins victory.