Sanó, Jeffers hit mammoth bombs in win over Royals
Miguel Sanó and Ryan Jeffers both hit home runs as the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Jeffers was the first to go yard as his 435-foot blast in the second inning plated Alex Kirilloff and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.
The Royals tied the game in the bottom of the second when Whit Merrifield drove in two runs with an RBI single but Kyle Garlick put the Twins back on top with a solo home run in the third.
After a rocky start, José Berríos settled down before allowing a two-run homer to Andrew Benintendi to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. But in the top half of the sixth, Sanó homered for the second straight game, launching a 449-foot bomb off the Royals Hall of Fame building to put Minnesota on top 5-4.
After Berríos left the game after six innings, the Twins turned to their bullpen for scoreless innings from Tyler Duffey and Taylor Rogers.
In the ninth, Hansel Robles allowed a leadoff double to Kelvin Gutierrez to put the tying run in scoring position. After Kevin Dyson pinch-ran for Gutierrez, Jorge Soler grounded out to short but a throwing error allowed Dyson to advance to third base. With the game on the line, Michael A. Taylor lined out to Andrelton Simmons, who threw to third for the final out of the game.
The Twins (23-35) will look to salvage a four-game split with the Royals in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
