The Minnesota Twins picked up the series win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Royals by a score of 5-4 to stay atop the American League Central.
The Twins got off to a fast start when Miguel Sano jumped on Royals starter Kris Bubic for an RBI double in the first inning. Eddie Rosario followed suit delivering an RBI single to drive in Sano to give the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Minnesota’s offense stayed hot in the third inning, tagging Bubic for another pair of runs thanks to a Marwin Gonzalez RBI double that ran the lead up to 4-0.
Jumpin’ on the first pitch.
Doublin’ our lead. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/oJ75or8qpj
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 23, 2020
The Twins bats went silent against the Royals bullpen and opened the door for a rally. Jorge Soler drove in two runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead in half and Mikael Franco delivered an RBI single as part of a bases-loaded rally in the seventh to bring the Royals within 4-3.
But Sergio Romo got out of the jam with a big strikeout of Adalberto Mondesi to get out of the inning and preserve the lead. After a scoreless eighth inning, Nelson Cruz delivered some insurance with his 10th home run of the season to put the Twins ahead 5-3.
We have liftoff 🚀🚀🚀@ncboomstick23 | @Twins pic.twitter.com/bHrPzqfe41
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) August 23, 2020
The Royals’ last gasp included another RBI single from Franco, but Taylor Rogers was able to get the save and preserve the win.
The Twins improved to 19-10 with the victory, but will start a crucial three-game series in Cleveland on Monday night when Kenta Maeda (3-0, 2.27 ERA) takes the mound against Aaron Civale (3-2, 2.91 ERA).
