Twins send Royals to eighth straight loss
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Miguel Sano homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Friday night.
The Royals have lost eight straight games. The last time they had a longer losing streak was April 2012 when they lost 12 in a row.
Sano's two-run double off Joakim Soria (0-1) tied it in the ninth. Joe Mauer followed with a two-run double to put the Twins up.
The inning included an Eddie Rosario single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
Craig Breslow (1-0) got the victory, retiring the only batter he faced in the eighth inning.
Brandon Kintzler worked the ninth to pick up his sixth save.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy gave up two hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings for a no-decision.
Twins starter Kyle Gibson yielded three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Brandon Moss hit a solo homer in the seventh for Kansas City.
Kennedy retired the first 10 Twins he faced before walking Max Kepler in the fourth. Next Sano worked the count full before homering into the Twins' bullpen, cutting the Royals' lead to 3-2. Sano was 0-for-10 off Kennedy before the blast.
Salvador Perez gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the second when he drove a 2-1 Gibson pitch over the left-field fence, landing in the Kansas City bullpen. Eric Hosmer started the inning with a walk and was aboard for Perez's sixth home run of the season.
The Royals made it 3-0 in the third with singles by Whit Merrifield, Mike Moustakas and Hosmer. In Kennedy's last three starts, the Royals scored a total of three runs.
The Royals threatened in the fifth when Jorge Bonifacio walked and Lorenzo Cain singled. Hosmer grounded to first baseman Mauer to end the inning.
It was only the second time in 10 games the Royals scored more than two runs in a game.
NOTES: The Twins put LHP Hector Santiago on the bereavement list after his grandmother's death. They recalled LHP Buddy Boshers from Triple-A Rochester. ... The Royals hit .152 (5-for-33) with runners in scoring position on their just concluded 0-7 trip.