MINNEAPOLIS -- Just when Joe Mauer was getting on a roll, pain forced an early exit. Mauer drove in two runs before leaving with an injury, Eduardo Nunez homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-2 on Tuesday night. Mauer extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run double down the left-field line in the fourth inning, but was noticeably limping as he ran to second base. The team said he has a strained oblique muscle on his right side and will be evaluated Wednesday. "Ive been kind of battling this area for about a week or so, maybe a little more," Mauer said. "Ive been stiff and getting it loose and everythings been fine, but today on that one swing, ball down the line, it felt like somebody hit me pretty hard right there." Mauer missed almost a week earlier this year with a bad back and sat out the final 39 games last season with concussion-like symptoms. "Ive never had this happen before, so I hope its a lot sooner than what guys in the past have had," Mauer said. "Ive been feeling pretty good and getting some results, so its bad timing." Eric Hosmer had four hits for the Royals. Ricky Nolasco (5-6) earned his first win in five starts, allowing one run and eight hits in six innings. Minnesota signed Nolasco to a $49 million, four-year contract in the off-season, hoping he would help a rotation that had a major league-worst 5.26 ERA last year. Nolasco has struggled, however, posting a 5.49 ERA. He pitched more than six innings just once in his past 11 starts. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game that Nolasco had a good bullpen session last weekend in hopes of improving his mechanics to get better command of his fastball to set up his breaking pitches. Nolasco was better Tuesday, but remained far from dominant. He gave up six hits in the first three innings before settling down and retiring the Royals in order in the fourth and sixth. "I didnt have too many quick innings, but it was just kind of battling and I made some pitches when I had to," Nolasco said. "(My fastball) was better. Just trying not to do too much. Its a step in the right direction." Kansas City starter James Shields (8-4) was hoping a new month would change his fortunes. It didnt. In his shortest outing of the season, Shields allowed nine hits and five runs -- four earned -- in five innings. Although he struck out five, he was constantly behind in the count, leading to a 113-pitch outing. It was his first loss since May 2, a span of 10 starts in which he had five wins and five no-decisions. The right-hander has a 5.66 ERA in his past eight starts, and only twice has he allowed three or fewer runs. "I actually thought I made some pretty good pitches and they just found a lot of holes today," Shields said. "Its definitely frustrating that Im not getting outs. Im not getting my job done." Nunez homered and Sam Fuld had a two-run single as part of a five-run sixth inning for the Twins. Minnesota scored more than five runs for just the third time in 16 games. "We got some breaks," Gardenhire said. "They always say it evens out, so hopefully this is the start of it evening out." A miscue by the Royals gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the third. With Nunez on first, Chris Parmelee hit a popup to short left field with two outs. Mike Moustakas backpedaled from third base as left fielder Alex Gordon was coming in. The two nearly collided and the ball bounced off Gordons glove to put runners on second and third. Kendrys Morales drove in Nunez with an infield single. "I think Gordy just thought that he wasnt going to get there, then at the last second realized he had a chance to get there and they both get there at the same time," Royals manager Ned Yost said. An RBI double by Parmelee scored Nunez in the first, but an RBI single by Moustakas evened the score in the second. NOTES: Minnesotas Brian Dozier, who has started 79 of 82 games at second base, got the night off. He is in a 1-for-24 slump, and Gardenhire said he could sense some frustration. ... Raul Ibanez started in right field for Kansas City and went 1 for 4. The 42-year-old was signed Monday after being released by the Angels on June 21. ... Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe hit his career-high 23rd double. ... Twins RHP Kevin Correia (4-9, 5.08 ERA) faces LHP Jason Verges (7-3, 3.53) in Wednesday afternoons series finale. Cheap Royals Jerseys . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season. Kansas City Royals Gear ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. https://www.cheaproyals.com/. -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring. Fake Royals Jerseys .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. Kansas City Royals Store .Tzavelas opened the scoring in the 11th and Pereyra added another in the 51st. Emmanuel Kone pulled one back in the 80th and Levadiakos missed several chances to level in the last 10 minutes.East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Dez Wells scored 16 points and No. 12 Maryland went into Breslin Center and stunned Michigan State 68-66 in a double overtime thriller in the Terrapins Big Ten debut. Wells, who forced OT with a 3-pointer late in regulation, also had seven rebounds and five assists for Maryland (13-1, 1-0 Big Ten), which moved from the ACC to the Big Ten this summer. Melo Trimble shot 12-of-14 from the foul line for 17 points for the Terps, winners in six straight games. They had zero free throws at halftime and then ended up with 32, said MSU coach Tom Izzo. We couldnt cover anybody. Our guards struggled. Trailing by three with time winding down, Wells stepped into a 3 and hit nothing but nylon. Denzel Valentines half-court heave narrowly missed, and the game went into OT, but not before a lengthy video review. Officials spent nearly five minutes watching the replay of Wells triple to see if his foot was on the line, but the video was inconclusive. MSU led 55-51 with under two minutes to go in the first OT period, but Wells found Jon Graham for a layup and made a pair of free throws to force another five minutes. Maryland did most of its damage from the stripe in double-overtime. Wells and Richaud Pack both made two and Trimble hit all six of his to help the visitors prevail. Thats a great win for us, said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. Im not sure how we did it to be honest with you. Travis Trice scored a game-high 26 points for Michigan State (9-5, 0-1). Baskets were at a premium in the early going of this one. MSU led 4-2 following a Trice jumper when Graham made layups to bookend a 7-0 Maryland run.dddddddddddd The Spartans went scoreless for nearly six minutes before Branden Dawson hit a jumper. Then, more than seven minutes passed until Trice split a pair from the foul line. Despite Michigan States woes, Maryland only built a 13-6 lead. The offense picked up in the final segment of the half, and Maryland led 17-14 at the break. MSU ran off six straight points early in the second half. Wells dunk ended the flurry, but Bryn Forbes followed a pair of Valentine free throws with a 3- ball, and the hosts led 25-21. They led by as many as five, but Maryland stayed within striking distance. A 3-pointer from Evan Smotrycz at 3:16 had the Terps within 41-40, and a terrific sequence from Damonte Dodd helped them climb in front. Dodd held his ground in the post against Dawson and blocked a turnaround jumper with just over two minutes to play. Then, the sophomore big man hit a jumper that gave Maryland a one-point lead. Trice restored Michigan States lead with a steal and transition layup, then potted two free throws to extend the lead to 47-45 with 35 seconds left. Matt Costello had a chance to put the game away with a pair of free throws, but he only made 1-of-2, leaving the door open. Game Notes Dawson (hand) missed the last two games ... Dawson, Forbes and Costello all scored nine points ... Maryland won the rebounding margin, 53-36 ... The two teams meet again in College Park on Jan. 17. ' ' '