Minnesota Twins come from behind to defeat Kansas City Royals 8-4 in series-opener – MLB Update
With some high spirits in the batting line-up, the Minnesota Twins came from behind to shatter their rival Kansas City Royals 8-4 in the series-opener of the four-game series at Target Field in Minneapolis on Thursday, July 14.
In the first game after the All-Star break, the Royals started the game with a positive manner and scored two early runs in the top of the first inning followed by a single in the top of the fourth to get 3-0 lead. The Royals’ starter Bruce Chen was also
strong with his sinkers in the first half of the game. He held the Twins scoreless in his first four innings but dropped short against the wounded Twins in the fifth inning.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Twins’ Danny Valencia broke the spell with an RBI single. Then Delmon Young score and Trevor Plouffe combined to their team from 3-0 to 4-3 at the end of the fifth inning. Plouffe launched a ballistic two-run
homer off Bruce to set this mark.
"That's the mentality I have now, just help the team anyway I can," said Plouffe. "I don't know where I'm going to be playing, but it doesn't matter. When I get in there, have good at-bats and play sound defence."
Twins struck back again in the bottom of the seventh innings and Ben Revere and Alexi Casilla combined with Joe Mauer to score four more runs to secure their team an 8-3 position. It was an embarrassing situation for the Royals’ manager Ned Yost, who was
sure about his win in the early phases of the game.
However, he has to accept there was a fault in their pitching. "Just a day, actually the first day all year where nobody was sharp," He said.
Royals’ Melky Cabrera, who had score in the first inning, added another run in the ninth but it was not enough to remove the heavy margin. The Royals lost their 55th game of the season.
The Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano allowed three runs, two walks and struck-out four batters over seven innings to secure his sixth win of the season. His record improved to 6-7 with 4.76 in 16 starts. Jose Mijares tossed a scoreless inning and closer
Phil Dumatrait allowed one run on two hits in the ninth inning.
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