KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Jorge Soler homered in back-to-back innings, the second blast coming in a go-ahead six-run fourth in which Kansas City went deep three times, and the Royals held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 9-6 on Saturday night.
Nicky Lopez hit a two-run shot off reliever Lewis Thorpe (0-1) and Salvador Perez also went deep as the first seven Royals reached base in the fourth. Soler and Perez went back-to-back for the second time this season, and it was the first time the club had hit three homers in an inning since Aug. 19, 2018, against the White Sox.
Tyler Zuber (1-1) earned the win in relief of Danny Duffy. Trevor Rosenthal got four outs for his second straight save.
Nelson Cruz, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler went deep for the Twins, who lost the series opener in a 3-2 pitching duel.
This one was decided by the long ball.
Soler began the show with his homer leading off the third against former Royals pitcher Jake Odorizzi, who was making his season debut for Minnesota after dealing with a sore muscle in his ribs. That gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead.
The Twins answered with a pair of homers in the fourth. Cruz hit the first leading off, the ninth time the 40-year-old slugger has gone deep in his last 12 games against Kansas City. Buxton’s three-run shot was the second, giving him homers in three consecutive games after a slow start to the season.
The Royals’ big rally in the fourth began with a simple single by Maikel Franco, but Lopez immediately followed with his third career homer to tie the game. Brett Phillips and Whit Merrifield continued the charge with singles, and Soler added a three-run shot for his first multi-homer game since – coincidentally – facing the Twins last September.
Perez added his homer to cap the six-run inning. That’s more than the Royals had scored in all but two games this season.
The Twins got a run back on Buxton’s single in the sixth, and another when Kepler went deep in the seventh, before the Kansas City bullpen closed down the last two innings to wrap up the club’s third straight win.
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