David DeJesus and Mike Sweeney homered, Mark Redman pitched eight strong innings, and the Kansas City Royals ended an eight-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory Wednesday night over the Minnesota Twins.

Redman (11-10) allowed three runs and nine hits for the Royals, who won for the first time since a 7-4 home victory Sept. 16 against Seattle. John Buck went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Joe Nelson worked the ninth for his ninth save, allowing a leadoff homer to Michael Cuddyer.

The victory was the first for Kansas City interim manager Billy Doran (1-5), who is filling in for Buddy Bell. He is still recovering after having his tonsils removed Friday.

Minnesota remained one game behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central with four to play. The Tigers and Twins have clinched playoff berths, but the division champion still has to be decided. If they finish tied, Detroit would win the division title because it won the season series 11-8.

Rondell White was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Minnesota, which had won four straight.

Carlos Silva (10-15) lasted just four innings for the Twins. The right-hander gave up five runs and six hits, including the two home runs. Silva has allowed 38 homers this season, worst in the major leagues.

The poor start won't help Silva's chances of making Minnesota's post-season rotation. Manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game that the Twins will use four starters for the first round of the playoffs, though it's unclear who will follow Johan Santana and Boof Bonser in the rotation.

Silva is one of the candidates to start against the Yankees or Athletics, but he has pitched poorly of late. He gave up five runs in 5 2-3 innings in his previous start, a 7-3 loss to Baltimore.

Silva, a workhorse in Minnesota's rotation last season, struggled early this year and was demoted to the bullpen for three weeks after going 2-6 with an 8.80 ERA through eight starts.

The sinker-baller returned to the rotation in June and steadily improved in the second half, making three consecutive quality starts earlier this month, but he has been hit hard his last two games.

For Redman, it was his second consecutive strong outing against the Twins. The left-hander, who broke into the major leagues with Minnesota and pitched for the Twins from 1999-01, threw a five-hit shutout in Kansas City's 2-0 win Aug. 29 at the Metrodome.

The Royals took control Wednesday with four runs in the fourth inning. Sweeney led off with a line-drive homer to left on an 0-2 pitch. Shane Costa and Buck added RBI doubles, Angel Berroa had an RBI single and Angel Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly.

Buck added an RBI single in the fifth to give Kansas City a 6-1 lead. White's two-run single with two outs in the eighth brought the Twins to 6-3.

DeJesus' homer into the right-field upper deck in the third tied the score at 1. The Twins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Joe Mauer's double.

Notes: Redman's 11 wins are the most for a Royals pitcher since Paul Byrd won 17 games in 2002. ... Twins CF Torii Hunter went 0-for-3, snapping his 10-game hitting streak.

© The Canadian Press, 2007