Soria pronounced his shoulder felt fine before the game Friday night and could pitch in the ninth in a save situation. He was not needed as the Twins won 8-6 in the opening game of a weekend series at the Metrodome.

"If it gets to (a save) situation, we'll heat him up," Royals manager Trey Hillman said before the game.

Soria logged 42 saves, the second most in the American League last year, and is five-for-five opportunities this year. If Soria senses any discomfort in his shoulder when he does pitch, Hillman wants to know immediately.

"After all he's been through, if he feels anything at all, he's going to tell us," Hillman said.

In nine games since Soria's past outing, the Royals had only one save opportunity in the ninth inning, which Juan Cruz converted with a flawless inning Thursday against the Blue Jays.

"We were really fortunate with the situations that we were in," Hillman said. "Thankfully the offense came to life when it did. That helped a lot. It kept us from playing in tighter games."

TWINS 7, ROYALS 5: Bad timing. The Royals arrived at the Metrodome when Joe Mauer was coming off the disabled list. In his first at-bat of the season, he homered off Sidney Ponson. He also doubled, walked and scored three runs. The Royals battled back with a three-run fifth with David DeJesus stroking a run-producing double and Jose Guillen driving in two runs with a two-out single to the score at 5-5. Ponson, however, gave up a two-run homer to Justin Morneau in the bottom of the inning.