Kansas City set the tone before Minnesota's bats ever got going, then buried the game with two separate scoring bursts. The Royals beat the Twins 8-2, turning a tight early lead into a comfortable margin by the middle innings and putting it away for good in the eighth.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| KC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 8 | 10 | 1 |
R. Dobnak did the early heavy lifting for Kansas City, working 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 3 walks and 1 strikeout. He improved to 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA, and the bullpen backed him up by covering 4.0 innings and allowing only 1 run the rest of the way. Bobby Witt led the Royals' offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, 2 runs and 2 RBI.
Kansas City opened the scoring in the first when Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to left, plating Witt Jr. for a 0-1 lead, and Massey followed with a double to center that brought home Caglianone. The Royals broke the game open in the fifth: Witt's double to left scored both Jensen and Isbel after a throwing error by shortstop Kreidler, and Caglianone later grounded into a fielder's choice that brought Witt himself around to score, pushing the lead to 1-5. The eighth inning delivered the knockout blow, as Marte's double to center scored both Collins and Loftin before Isbel singled home Marte to make it 2-8.
Minnesota starter Joe Ryan lasted 5.1 innings and took the loss, allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, on 7 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts, falling to 6-8 on the season. The Twins' bullpen struggled too, allowing 3 runs over 2.2 innings. Minnesota's scoring came on a Roden sacrifice fly in the fourth that scored Clemens on an error, and a Bell home run to center in the eighth, but the offense could never seriously threaten the deficit. Royce Lewis went 4-for-4 for Minnesota, though none of his hits factored into a run.
The win pushed Kansas City to 47-67, snapping back with a second straight win after posting a 2-0 mark behind Dobnak's recent starts. Minnesota fell to 56-58, extending its losing streak to three games. Starling Marte, who drove in 2 runs on his eighth-inning double, sits at 296 career doubles, four shy of the 300 mark.