Bobby Witt Jr. homered and drove in three runs to lead the Kansas City Royals past the visiting Minnesota Twins 10-7 on Saturday night.
In his first at-bat, Witt picked up where he left off following Friday’s walk-off grand slam. He hit his 18th homer in his first at-bat. Two pitches after he ducked away from a fastball that was inches from his head, Witt pounded Bailey Ober’s slider into the left field bullpen for a 1-0 lead.
Michael Massey’s leadoff homer into the right field bullpen began a three-run second inning, capped by Witt’s RBI single for a 4-0 advantage. Witt added an RBI triple in the seventh, collecting his eighth hit and ninth RBI of the series.
Kyle Isbel’s two-run single to left gave Kansas City a 6-0 lead in the third. Isbel had a career-high four hits as the Royals collected a season-high 18.
Ober (6-5) surrendered six runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts and no walks in four innings.
The Twins cut the deficit to 6-3 in the fourth against Jordan Lyles (2-12) on the first of Byron Buxton’s three doubles.
Lyles finished five innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. It was just his second win in 13 career starts at Kauffman Stadium.
Max Kepler led off the sixth with his 15th homer and Christian Vazquez added an RBI single, but the rally fell short as Massey made a diving stop to turn Carlos Correa’s sharp bases-loaded grounder into an inning-ending double play.
The Royals added a sixth-inning insurance run when Witt singled to lead off the frame and scored on Salvador Perez’s hit to right for a 7-5 lead.
Kansas City plated three in the seventh, highlighted by RBI triples by Witt and Drew Waters.
After suffering his third blown save Friday, Scott Barlow shut out the Twins in the ninth for his 13th save.
The Royals won consecutive games for the first time since July 1-2 and will go for their first series sweep on Sunday afternoon.
–Field Level Media
