MINNEAPOLIS -- Kyle Gibson wasnt dominant in his first major league start, but he still pitched well enough to make a bit of Minnesota Twins history and give the team a reason to be optimistic about the future of its pitching staff. Four years after being Minnesotas top pick in the 2009 draft, Gibson pitched six solid innings, and Trevor Plouffe homered to help the Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Saturday. The long road from draft day to starting pitcher included a Tommy John-surgery detour, but it ultimately ended with Gibson becoming Minnesotas first first-round pick to win a start in his major league debut. He did it in front of about 30 family members and friends. "It was an amazing day, really," Gibson said. "I was pretty nervous the last couple of days leading up to it, and was able to calm the nerves somehow. I think seeing a couple of familiar faces before I started throwing, and a little prayer before the game definitely helped me calm my nerves, but it was a great day." Gibson (1-0) allowed two runs and eight hits, and he struck out five. He allowed two runs in the third inning on RBI singles by Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez, and he hit Escobar in the fifth. But he worked out of several jams and recorded his first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth thanks to some nice defence by Pedro Florimon at short. "Weve been waiting for this for a while, and Im sure he has, too," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Going through the elbow thing, and all the rehab and all the hard work that hes put in, its a big moment. A big moment for him." Gibson had plenty of early help as Minnesota scored five in the first inning. Wade Davis (4-6) was yanked after giving up another run in the second with no one out. The one-inning outing marked Davis shortest outing of the season for the Royals, who have lost seven of 10. "Never," Davis said when asked if hed ever had a similar outing. "Not that short, anyways. Just frustrating to look back and look how that played out." On Friday night, the Royals hit a season-high four homers against the Twins. They couldnt muster much of anything against Gibson through six innings, or against relievers Brian Duensing, Casey Fien or Glen Perkins. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out against Fien in the eighth, but Lorenzo Cain and Miguel Tejada both struck out swinging. "We got kind of put in a hole early there," first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "We were trying to inch back, and inch back. Just fell short." Gibsons long-awaited arrival to the Twins rotation came this week after starter Mike Pelfrey was placed on the disabled list because of a strained back. He received the loudest cheers during pregame introductions, and he delighted the crowd by striking out slugger Billy Butler to end the first inning. "I think everybody in this room knows that feeling the first day that they step out there, nerves are going, but he handled it about as good as you could," catcher Joe Mauer said. Minnesota had been outscored 74-39 in the first inning this season, but the Twins pounced right away on Davis, who gave up a two-run double to Justin Morneau and a two-run homer to Plouffe. Florimons RBI-single made it 5-0, and Gibson calmly handled the Royals lineup the rest of the way with pitches that consistently reached into the 90-mph range. "You hear a lot about him, and hes got great makeup and great pitches, and hes going to be good one," Mauer said. NOTES: The Royals designated OF Jeff Francoeur for assignment after the game to make room for 2B Johnny Giavotella, who was called up from Triple-A Omaha. . Davis had been 3-0 in eight career appearances against the Twins. ... It took Davis 53 pitches to get through the first inning. It was the most first-inning pitches by a major-league starting pitcher since Wandy Rodrigues threw 55 on Aug. 1, 2007, at Atlanta for Houston. Davis threw 69 before being relieved by Will Smith in the second. "He fought his command. His stuff was OK, but he just didnt locate. Ive never seen a 50-pitch inning," Royals manager Ned Yost said. . Plouffe stretched his hitting streak to 11 games, the second longest of his career. His highest is a 17-games spurt from June 30-July 19, 2012. ... Gibson is the eighth rookie used by the Twins this season. ... The Twins will go for the series win on Sunday when they send right-hander Kevin Correia (6-5) to the mound. The Royals counter with Ervin Santana (5-5). The Winnipeg Jets are desperate to end their longest losing streak under head coach Paul Maurice and they hope to take advantage of the ice-cold Vancouver Canucks in Wednesdays home game at MTS Centre. Catch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and TSN Radio 1290 at 6:30pm ct/4:30pm pt. The Jets and Canucks both have 68 points on the season, leaving them six points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Neither club has done itself any favors in the postseason chase of late, as Winnipeg has lost four in a row while the Canucks have dropped five of six and 12 of their last 14 games. Vancouver has actually lost 21 of 27 games dating back to late December, and the clubs most recent setback did not inspire confidence the club is ready to break out of the lengthy slump. The Canucks led a visiting New York Islanders club 3-0 after two periods on Monday before giving up a whopping seven goals over the final 20 minutes of regulation to lose the tilt by a 7-4 count. Chris Higgins, Christopher Tanev, Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin all scored for the Canucks, while Eddie Lack gave up six goals on 27 shots in the collapse. "We should have had this game," said Sedin. "We played great hockey for 37 minutes but then we started making poor decisions. We should have been back in the race but now were down and looking up." Lack is expected to start in goal. His record is 1-1 against the Jets this season, with a 2.94 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. The Canucks will try to put their latest disappointment behind them when they kick off a four-game road trip tonight. Vancouver, however, has lost seven straight as the guest and is just 13-17-4 on the road this season.dddddddddddd. The clubs last victory away from Vancouver was on Jan. 21 in Edmonton. The Jets had lost four straight against the Canucks before posting a 4-3 home win on Jan. 31. That victory gave Winnipeg a 7-2-0 record since Maurice replaced Claude Noel as head coach, but the club is just 4-3-3 in the 10 games following that win. Winnipeg lost for the sixth time in eight outings Monday in Colorado, although the Jets were able to record a point in the overtime loss. Matt Duchene scored 2:33 into the extra session to lift the Avalanche to the 3-2 decision. Duchene lost control of the puck after twirling out of the corner. Winnipeg defenseman Tobias Enstrom tried to chip the puck away from the crease area, but it hit Duchene and the Avalanche forward scored on a backhand. "He got position at the net. The puck came right back to him and a guy like that, he will not miss those," Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien said of Duchene. Byfuglien scored both Winnipeg goals, with Bryan Little notching an assist on each score. Al Montoya took the loss despite stopping 31-of-34 shots. Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal this evening. He has a 1-3 record lifetime against Vancouver with a 3.04 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Winnipeg, which hasnt made the playoffs since the franchise relocated from Atlanta prior to the 2011-12 season, hopes to boost its postseason chances during a home-heavy part of its schedule over the next week and a half. The Jets, who are 15-13-5 as the host this season, are beginning a three-game homestand on Wednesday and will play five of their next six games at MTS Centre. ' ' '