Twins 3, Royals 1 (Game 1)
Justin Morneau drove in two runs and Jamey Carroll finished with three hits as visiting Minnesota won the opener of a doubleheader at Kansas City.
The Twins won for just the fourth time in their past 17 games. Cole De Vries (4-5) allowed one run on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, with no walks and three strikeouts.
Morneau doubled to right in the first inning, driving home Josh Willingham to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Morneau came through again in the fifth, bringing home Pedro Florimon with a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.
Later in the fifth, Ryan Doumit singled to right to score Darin Mastroianni and push the Twins’ advantage to 3-0.
Kansas City scored in the seventh as Johnny Giavotella singled to drive in Mike Moustakas. With the tying runs on base, however, Alex Burnett relieved De Vries and induced a groundout from Lorenzo Cain to end the inning.
Minnesota's Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Will Smith (4-7) took the loss for Kansas City, giving up three runs on nine hits in six innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The first pitch was delayed 31 minutes by rain. … Chris Parmelee finished with two hits for Minnesota. … The loss snapped Kansas City’s three-game winning streak. … Friday’s series opener was rained out, resulting in the doubleheader.