Salvador Perez drove in Bobby Witt Jr. with a two-out double in the seventh inning to help the Kansas City Royals defeat the visiting Minnesota Twins 5-4 Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.
The Royals (59-89) won for the first time this season when trailing by three runs at any point in the game. Minnesota opened the scoring with three runs in the second inning.
The Twins (73-75) fell to 6-13 in September.
Dylan Coleman (5-2) pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Scott Barlow recorded five outs for his 22nd save in 26 chances.
Michael Fulmer (5-6) took the loss.
Neither starter factored in the decision. Dylan Bundy allowed four runs on four hits, including two homers, in 4 2/3 innings. Zack Greinke gave up four runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
After escaping a jam in the first, Greinke was not as fortunate in the second. Jake Cave beat out a one-out infield single. Gilberto Celestino lined a single to right and then Matt Wallner doubled to right, scoring Cave. Carlos Correa stroked a two-out single between third and short, scoring Celestino and Wallner.
In the top of the third, Greinke struck out Cave, notching his 1,000th career strikeout with the Royals, passing Tom Gordon for seventh place on the club’s all-time list.
The Royals, who were retired in order in the first two innings, got two runs back in the third. Edward Olivares led off with a double down the left field line. He was still on second with two outs, but MJ Melendez drove him in with a two-run home run.
Kansas City’s Hunter Dozier, whose last home run came on July 31, went deep in the fifth to tie the game. Nate Eaton followed with a single. He stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield hit by Witt.
The Twins tied it in the sixth. Gio Urshela led off with a double and scored on a two-out double by Cave off reliever Amir Garrett.
Perez’s double, the Royals’ third straight double, drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh. The three-batter sequence included Melendez getting thrown out at the plate while trying to score on Witt’s double.
–Field Level Media
