Royals 7, Twins 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning as the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Cain's home run was the Royals' first at Kauffman Stadium since Miguel Tejada went deep on May 24.
Kansas City won back-to-back games for the first time since May 4-5.
Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler also contributed RBI hits in the eighth. Hosmer's single brought home Alex Gordon, who led off the inning with a double. Butler's double scored Salvador Perez.
Tim Collins (2-1), the third of four Kansas City pitchers, worked two spotless innings to pick up the victory.
Jared Burton (0-3) allowed four of the six batters he faced to score. He allowed just one baserunner in five scoreless innings in his previous five outings.
The Royals, who trailed 3-0 in the first, tied the score in the sixth when Hosmer hit an opposite-field double off the left field bullpen fence and scored on Perez's single. Hosmer and Butler combined to go 4-for-7.
Twins starter Mike Pelfrey, who had Tommy John surgery last year, pitched 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing of the season, allowing three runs on seven hits for a no-decision. Pelfrey is 0-3 with three no-decisions in his past six starts.
The Twins took advantage of a Mike Moustakas throwing error and a Wade Davis wild pitch to score three unearned runs in the first.
Leadoff man Jamey Carroll went to second on Moustakas' errant toss. He moved to third on Joe Mauer's groundout and scored on a wild pitch when Josh Willingham struck out.
With two outs, Ryan Doumit hit a two-run homer, his second of the series, to make it 3-0.
The Royals got two runs back in the second. Butler, Moustakas and Cain singled with no outs, and Chris Getz stroked a two-run single with one out off Pelfrey.
Davis was replaced by Luke Hochevar in the sixth after throwing 106 pitches, 64 for strikes. He yielded three runs (all unearned) on four hits, walked three, hit a batter and struck out six.
NOTES: The Twins drafted RHP Kohl Stewart of St. Puis X High School in Houston with the fourth overall pick in the draft Thursday. Stewart also has a football scholarship to play quarterback at Texas A&M. ...The Royals selected Stephen F. Austin SS Hunter Dozier with the eighth overall pick. He led the Southland Conference with a .396 batting average, .755 slugging percentage, 25 doubles and 17 home runs ... OF Jarrod Dyson, who suffered a high right ankle sprain on May 16, began a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Omaha. ...LHP Danny Duffy, who had Tommy John surgery last year, has been transferred to Omaha to continue his rehab assignment. He went 0-2 in three starts with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. ... Twins starters had thrown 19 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run before Pelfrey gave up two runs in the second. ...The Royals picked up 3B/OF Edinson Rincon off waivers from the San Diego Padres and optioned him to Northwest Arkansas. To make space for him on the 40-man roster, the Royals designated RHP Nate Adcock for assignment.
