Jim Thome has been plagued by aches and pains for the better part of a decade. They just seem to be coming around a little more often in his 19th season.

A strained oblique and bothersome toe injury on his left foot have slowed his chase of 600 career homers, but the Minnesota Twins are sticking with him for moments like the sixth inning on Sunday against Kansas City.

With the game tied and his team in desperate need of a jolt, Thome hit his 596th home run to lift the Twins to a 4-3 victory over the Royals.

Thome’s tiebreaking three-run drive off Felipe Paulino soared into the upper deck in right-center field, leaving him four shy of becoming the eighth player to hit 600 home runs.

“It’s always special,” Thome said. “That feeling you want to kind of last forever. It went out, it put us ahead. And that’s No. 1.”

Jeff Francoeur homered and Melky Cabrera added two hits for the Royals. Paulino (1-3) struck out eight in seven innings, yielding four runs and seven hits.

Brian Duensing (7-7) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Twins, who started a crucial 12-game homestand by taking three of four from the Royals.

After a relatively healthy season last year in which he hit 25 homers in 108 games, this one has been a tough one. He will turn 41 in August, and it’s getting tougher and tougher to get his body ready to grind out each at-bat.

On a sweltering day where the heat index climbed past 110 degrees, Thome looked plenty loose when he sent a 3-2 pitch from Paulino an estimated 464 feet into the stands for a 4-1 lead. He also became the 11th player to hit 500 homers in the American League.

“He’s had some injuries and we know we have to limit what you can do with him to keep him healthy,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That was a big at-bat and it was one mistake. That’s what those guys do. You make one mistake and he’s going to put it in the seats. That’s why he’s got that many home runs.”

Francoeur came back with a two-run shot of his own in the top of the seventh, but Glen Perkins pitched a perfect eighth and Joe Nathan, who resumed his closer role when Matt Capps began to struggle, picked up his fifth save of the season.

It was a tough loss for Paulino, who has pitched well since joining the Royals at the end of May. Paulino hit 97 mph on the Target Field radar gun. He only walked one hitter, an intentional pass for Joe Mauer, who had two hits and an RBI.

“We’re at the point where one mistake kills us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re just walking a thin line. Just keep battling through it. We’re getting better. We’ve just got to keep trudging through it.”

The Royals made Duensing work through the first three innings.

The Twins left-hander needed 58 pitches to get to the fourth, giving up an RBI single to Alex Gordon to fall behind in the first inning. But he breezed through innings four, five and six, averaging just 10 pitches per frame to keep the Twins in it.

Gardenhire returned to the ballpark Sunday after missing Saturday’s game with a chest cold that has bothered him for weeks. He played it safe by watching the game from the air-conditioned clubhouse, while bench coach Scott Ullger made the pitching changes.

Paulino fanned Thome and got him to ground into a double play the first two times up. But he left a slider out over the middle of the plate in the third at-bat, and paid for it.

“He knows what his game’s all about,” Nathan said. “He came to us and pretty much said, ‘There’s going to be a lot of times I strike out. There’s going to be a lot of times I walk and there’s going to be a lot of times that I’m going to barrel one up.’

“We got to see a lot of that today. He punched out, but he also got to barrel one up and we got to see one fly a long way.”

— Associated Press —

Joe Nathan entered in a save situation Saturday night and received a rousing ovation from the hometown crowd.

Quite a departure from a day ago, when Matt Capps was booed off the Target Field mound after another blown save.

Nathan couldn’t contain a smile after returning to the role he wanted. The Minnesota fans certainly embraced the Twins’ new, old closer as he preserved a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

“Especially running in, it got a little louder than normal,” Nathan said of moving into the closer’s spot after pitching in a setup role recently. “Usually it’s like advertisements going on in the eighth inning. So, yeah, you’ve got to calm down a little bit more.”

Michael Cuddyer singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning before Nathan did his job as the closer.

Cuddyer, Minnesota’s lone All-Star representative, singled off Aaron Crow to drive in Alexi Casilla.

Nathan finished for his fourth save in seven chances. Earlier in the day, the Twins put the former All-Star back into his familiar role, replacing the struggling Capps. Nathan earned his first save since the Twins’ home opener.

“For me, I try to treat it all the same,” Nathan said. “Obviously the stuff going on outside the field is the stuff that’s different, with the music playing, the crowd gets a little louder in the ninth, everything seems a little bigger in that inning. For myself and my own mental preparation, everything is the same.”

Drew Butera added a solo home run for Minnesota. Glen Perkins (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the victory.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire left the stadium during the game with an illness — he’s been dealing with a viral infection. Bench coach Scott Ullger finished the game as the acting manager.

Jeff Francis (3-11) lost his fifth straight decision, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Francis got one out in the eighth before back-to-back singles by Casilla and Joe Mauer chased him. Crow entered, and Cuddyer met him with a single that broke a tie at 3-all.

“I take a lot of responsibility for what I do on the mound, and I think I expect more out of myself than anybody else does,” Francis said. “I feel like I can get out of that inning, but I’ll give the ball to Aaron any day. I know the way that guy can throw. I’m not disappointed with him at all, only with my performance.”

Still stuck six games under .500, the Twins are opening the second half with 12 straight home games, all against AL Central opponents. Minnesota used a 24-11 surge going into the All-Star break to cut their 10-game deficit.

The Twins now trail Cleveland by six games.

“When you put yourself in a hole, that mountain when you’re standing at the bottom of it, it looks like it never ends,” Cuddyer said. “But when you’re climbing and taking every step, that next step looks closer. That’s kind of the way we relayed it. Every night you go out and try to figure out a way to win, and by the time it’s all said and done, hopefully you’ve climbed to the top.”

Playing a Central team is usually a good tonic for Minnesota, which has won 13 of its last 16 games against division foes. The Twins have also won 16 of their last 21 home games.

Nathan could play a big part in Minnesota’s resurgence. He certainly caught the eye of Royals manager Ned Yost.

“His fastball is down from what it used to be, but it still looks crisp. His breaking ball looks a lot sharper, to me, than it did,” Yost said. “But I ain’t seen him in a long time.”

Alcides Escobar homered for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven to the Twins.

Carl Pavano pitched seven innings for Minnesota, allowing three runs and six hits. He cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two hits.

The Royals broke through with Escobar’s two-out homer in the fifth and added a run in the sixth as Melky Cabrera singled, stole second and scored on a groundout by Eric Hosmer.

Mauer had an RBI grounder, Cuddyer singled and Delmon Young doubled for a 2-0 lead in the first. Butera’s second homer made it 3-0 in the fourth.

Francis retired 11 batters in a row before Casilla’s single in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Matt Capps insisted there’s no difference to him, pitching on the road or at his home ballpark.

But Target Field has not been a friendly place lately for the scuffling former All-Star closer.

Eric Hosmer hit a two-run, two-out homer in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 victory Friday night, the seventh blown save this season for Capps to match the major league lead.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever struggled like this,” Capps said, adding: “Nobody’s more disappointed right now. It’s not fun.”

Capps (2-5) was booed mildly after Melky Cabrera’s leadoff four-pitch walk and loudly after Hosmer’s drive to straightaway center field. Capps couldn’t hold the lead in a save situation for the seventh time in 22 tries, tying Carlos Marmol of the Chicago Cubs for most in the majors.

In his last four appearances at home, Capps has blown two saves, allowing 11 hits, seven earned runs, two walks and two homers in just 2 2/3 innings.

“It’s been a rough year from the word `go’ for me,” said Capps, an All-Star last season for the Washington Nationals before coming to Minnesota in a trade for prize catching prospect Wilson Ramos. “I appreciate the support I do get, and all I can say is I’m going to keep grinding. I’m not giving up.”

Tim Collins (4-4) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, the first by the Royals in their last six games against the Twins, and Joakim Soria escaped a jam in the ninth for his 16th save in 21 tries. Soria empathized with his opponent after watching his teammates rally.

“He’s a great pitcher. He’s not that bad. He’s not wild. Nothing. He’s just hit a bit of bump there … ” Soria said. “I had that one this season. He’ll figure it out. He’s a really good guy and a great baseball player. I think the fans, he needs their support.”

After Cabrera stole second base, Alex Gordon grounded out and Jason Repko raced to catch a sharp flyball by Billy Butler in the right field corner for the second out of the ninth. But Hosmer — after swinging late and missing a high fastball — connected for his ninth homer this season to spoil seven shutout innings by Twins starter Nick Blackburn.

“Anytime you’re facing a good closer like Capps, especially with a good fastball, got to try to jump on it early,” Hosmer said.

Said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire: “Everything gets thrown on the closer. Sure, he gave it up at the end, but a lot of people misfired, too. … We have all the trust in the world in him.”

Soria gave up a leadoff single to Jim Thome, and Matt Tolbert entered as a pinch runner.

Danny Valencia’s drive to the warning track in center raised hope for the home team of a walk-off win, but the ball died in time for Cabrera to catch it for the first out. Delmon Young’s soft single to center sent Tolbert to third, but Tolbert came home on a roller in front of the plate by pinch-hitter Luke Hughes and was easily tagged out. Tsuyoshi Nishioka grounded out to end the game.

“It was pretty bad on my part. I thought I could’ve made it at first. I thought it wasn’t hit that hard, and then it kind of just got to him a little quicker than I thought,” Tolbert said.

Blackburn gave up only four hits and two walks while striking out three, his best start in a month. Royals starter Luke Hochevar who looked just as comfortable on the mound and was equally effective, finishing seven innings with only three hits allowed.

Ben Revere ran his way to the Twins’ only run, stealing second base, moving up on a ground ball and scoring easily on Hochevar’s wild pitch in the fourth.

Then with one out in the sixth, Revere really revved up the crowd with a highlight-reel three-base hit — putting the trip in triple. His line drive to right field bounced past Jeff Francoeur to the bottom of the wall, and he sped so fast around second base that he lost his balance and fell forward halfway to third. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Revere barely lost momentum as he did a full somersault, got up without his helmet and slid head-first into the base with room to spare.

— Associated Press —