KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Ned Yost has been waiting and waiting for Alex Gordon to go on a tear.

He is waiting no longer.

Gordon hit a pair of home runs and doubled while Ian Kennedy pitched eight scoreless innings as the Kansas City Royals routed the Minnesota Twins 10-0 on Saturday night.

Gordon extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games and had only his second three-hit game of the year. Gordon raised his batting average to .227 after going 17-for-41 (.415) in his streak.

"He struggled so much for the better part of the year, but still as a manager I had a lot of confidence at the end of the year his numbers were going to be pretty acceptable, almost Alex Gordon numbers," Yost said. "(He'll) probably get up to .250 to .260 and end up hitting 20 homers and a bunch of RBIs and not a bad year."

Kennedy (8-9) limited the Twins to four hits over eight innings and has won back-to-back starts for the first time since May 1 to May 7. Brian Flynn replaced Kennedy in the ninth and pitched a spotless inning to complete the shutout.

Lorenzo Cain had two doubles and a sacrifice fly, driving in three runs.

The Royals hiked their winning streak to a season-best seven games.

Kennedy, who had a 1.04 ERA in his previous four starts, pitched out of a pickle in the second inning when Eduardo Rosario singled with one out and motored to third on Eduardo Escobar's single to right. Kennedy got out of that when Robbie Grossman popped up a bunt that catcher Salvador Perez caught and Kurt Suzuki flied out to right to end the inning.

"We did have a chance to take the lead," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We had a couple of hits there. Rosie led us off and Esco, first and third there. It's (the bunt) just one of those plays that obviously it's in the mix to try to get a run and stay out of the double play. It wasn't a called play. I've made guys aware to keep that in mind, especially if they're giving you an opportunity. Again, if it's executed and we get a run and a man in scoring position, but he popped it up."

The Royals bunched four hits to score three runs in the third off left-hander Hector Santiago (10-8). Alcides Escobar led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Christian Colon's bunt single. Cheslor Cuthbert sliced an opposite-field double, scoring Escobar with the first run. Cain yanked a double down the left-field line, scoring Colon and Cuthbert.

Gordon homered on a 2-1 pitch in the fourth for his longest hitting streak since a 12-game string in April 2013.

"I'm just feeling comfortable," Gordon said. "Actually, early in the year just not swinging at the pitches I should and really just waiting for my pitch and when I get it not missing it. Really, that's what is going on right now."

The Royals upped their advantage to 8-0 in the fifth. Cain doubled to the left-center gap with one out, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Eric Hosmer's single. Perez homered into the Royals' bullpen with two out and Gordon homered on a 3-1 pitch, his first multi-homer game since May 18, 2014.

That finished Santiago, who yielded 11 eight runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Adalberto Mejia replaced him, making his major league debut.

"I got 3-1 or 2-0 and made sure I just tried to get a strike and they were just too good of pitches for them," Santiago said. "They weren't good strike pitches or good executed pitches. They just stayed over the middle of the plate. Just some part of the game there, I just kind of gave in and said I'm not walking anybody tonight. That was kind of the mindset and I gave in too much to that kind of mindset and kind of left some pitches over the plate."

NOTES: The Twins promoted LHP Adalberto Mejia, who was a combined 8-5 with a 3.10 ERA in 21 starts with three minor league clubs this season. Santiago, who was acquired in a July 28 trade with the San Francisco Giants, was put in the bullpen. DH-1B Kenny Vargas was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to make roster space for Mejia. ... 2B Christian Colon started for the first time since Sunday as rookie Raul Mondesi got the night off. ... The Royals have eight walk-off victories, two more than last year when they won the World Series. 1B Eric Hosmer, who had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning on Friday, has seven career walk-off hits. ... Twins rookie RF Max Kepler, who is hitless in his last eight at-bats and 3-for-16 on this trip, was not in the lineup. ... Twins RHP Ervin Santana and Royals LHP Danny Duffy are the pitching probables Sunday for the series finale.