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The Kansas City Royals continued to struggle against the Minnesota Twins, unable to respond to their offensive barrage in Tuesday night’s 13-3 drubbing at Target Field.
The Twins quickly pelted starter Seth Lugo with three runs in the first inning. MJ Melendez answered in the second with a solo home run, but the Royals could get no closer as the Twins added runs in the third and fourth. Lugo was charged with another two runs in the fifth and was pulled, unable to get an out in that inning. That didn’t stop the Twins, who added runs in the sixth and seventh. Everyone in their lineup got on base, as Carlos Santana walked twice without recording a hit. Third baseman Jose Miranda was among three Twins who hit home runs in the game, ending up a triple shy of the cycle. Michael Massey and Salvador Perez were the only other Royals players with RBIs.
Lugo was ultimately rung up for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts, to claim his seventh loss of the year. Zebby Matthews picked up a win in his first-ever MLB start, going five innings and allowing two runs on five hits while fanning five. The loss was Kansas City’s seventh against Minnesota this season, compared to a combined six losses against the rest of the division.
The Royals are now 65-55, six games behind Cleveland in the AL Central and just a game ahead of Boston for the third wild card spot. The Royals will look to stay ahead of Boston and avoid a sweep by the Twins on Wednesday afternoon when Cole Ragans takes the bump. Pregame is at 11:30 on KMMO AM 1300, with first pitch at 12:10.