Royce Lewis hit a walk-off two-run triple on Tuesday, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals in Minneapolis.
Kansas City’s Alex Lange (1-6) allowed Victor Caratini’s leadoff single and Brooks Lee’s one-out walk in the ninth before striking out Ryan Kreidler. On a 1-1 count, Lewis then ripped his first triple of the season to give the Twins their third win in a row.
Jack Anderson (1-0) picked up the first victory of his major league career after throwing a scoreless top of the ninth. Taj Bradley started for the Twins and threw six quality innings of two-run, three-hit ball, striking out 10 and walking three.
Minnesota’s Josh Bell had two hits and an RBI, and Caratini also collected two hits.
Seth Lugo went six innings for the Royals, yielding a run on six hits while striking out two and walking two. Salvador Perez had two hits and an RBI for Kansas City, which had won five of its previous seven games.
Minnesota scored the game’s first run in the fourth inning. Kody Clemens laced a one-out double before Bell’s base hit made it 1-0.
Kansas City’s Josh Rojas walked to begin the sixth, and Lane Thomas’ one-out single placed runners on the corners. Rojas then scored on a double steal, with his first swiped bag of the season knotting the score at 1-1. Two batters later, Perez’s RBI single put Kansas City in front.
The Twins threatened in the bottom of the sixth, when Clemens was hit by a pitch and Bell slashed another one-out single. Lugo escaped the jam, though, getting Caratini to ground into a double play.
Kody Funderburk worked around a leadoff walk to throw a scoreless seventh for Minnesota.
Daniel Lynch IV replaced Lugo in the bottom of the seventh, allowing Lee’s one-out double before retiring Kreidler. John Schreiber then entered as the second Kansas City reliever, walking Lewis but getting Alan Roden to line out, preserving the one-run lead.
