MLB: Royals 8, Twins 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Salvador Perez capped Kansas Citys five-run ninth inning with a game-ending grand slam, lifting the Royals to an 8-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Rosell Herrera sparked the winning rally with a one-out double off Trevor Hildenberger (4-4), who took over as Minnesotas closer after Fernando Rodney was traded to Oakland last month. Whit Merrifield followed with an RBI single and advanced to third on Adalberto Mondesis base hit.
Manager Paul Molitor then put in Logan Forsythe, giving the Twins five infielders, and Alex Gordon was intentionally walked to load the bases. But Perez thwarted the strategy with a drive to center for his 26th homer.
The Twins loss lowered Clevelands magic number for clinching the AL Central title to one.
Perez also had an RBI single in the first inning and Mondesi connected for his eighth homer in the seventh. Jason Hammel (3-13) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Robbie Grossman and Willians Astudillo each had three hits for Minnesota, which also dropped the opener of the four-game set on Thursday.
Joe Mauer had a run-scoring double in the Twins three-run fifth, and Astudillo made it 4-2 when he singled in Grossman in the seventh.
But Mondesi went deep in the bottom half of the inning and the Royals nearly tied it in the eighth. Ryan OHearn tried to score from first on Jorge Bonifacios two-out double, but Astudillo made a diving tag to get him at the plate.
Minnesota wasted a solid start by Jose Berrios, who struck out nine while pitching six innings of two-run ball.
Kansas City right-hander Jorge Lopez was charged with three runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He departed with a left rib contusion, but its unclear when the injury occurred.
WORTH NOTING
Mauers double was his 598th extra-base hit, breaking a tie with Tony Oliva for fourth place on the Twins career list. He trails only Harmon Killebrew
(728), Kirby Puckett
(687) and Kent Hrbek
(623).
