"The symptoms were there for another Francisco Liriano meltdown.

A wild pitch, a walk and a pair of Little League-like errors by the Twins spotted the Kansas City Royals a 2-0 lead Thursday before darkness fell at Target Field and the home team even had a chance to bat.

Liriano acknowledged afterward he was overly excited and had little command from the get-go in his first start since July 6, familiar shortcomings that have dogged the talented left-hander throughout his oscillating career.

On this night, though, he managed to shrug off the early yips and bear down to record a gritty victory in the Twins' 8-4 romp over the Royals.

Allowing just one earned run over seven innings, Liriano (6-7) won consecutive starts for the first time since Sept. 7 and 14, 2010. He also improved his career record to 19-12 post all-star break, bagging the win in the opener of Minnesota's 12-game homestand following the midsummer classic.

"A hard seven innings for him," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He battled. Not with his greatest stuff. He was able to go deep into the ballgame even without his good stuff."

In the top of the first, Liriano yielded a one-out single to Melky Cabrera. Cabrera moved to second when Tsuyoshi Nishioka dropped a soft toss from Alexi Casilla on a potential forceout. Liriano walked Eric Hosmer with two outs to load the bases. "