Twins Beat Royals, Homers From Castro and Lewis

MINNEAPOLIS -- — Willi Castro had a three-run home run and Royce Lewis hit a two-run shot in a six-run second inning for the Minnesota Twins on the way to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals to open a key series between the division rivals and close wild card competitors on Monday night.

“If we keep playing like this, a game like today, we’re going to be a good spot at the end of the year,” Castro said.

Pablo López (11-8) finished six innings with two earned runs allowed for his third win in four starts for the Twins. He fell behind on a first-inning home run by Bobby Witt Jr. and an RBI single in the second by Kyle Isbel, who had three hits, but the Twins overwhelmed Royals starter Brady Singer (8-8) after that.

Six consecutive batters reached with two outs against Singer, whose first three starts out of the All-Star break were superb before some vulnerability for the fifth-year right-hander in his last two turns.

The Twins, who improved to 6-2 against the Royals this season, remained 3 1/2 games behind American League Central leader Cleveland after splitting a four-game series with the Guardians during the weekend. The third-place Royals dropped to five games back.

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Minnesota (66-52) occupys the second AL wild card spot. The Royals (65-54) control the third spot, with a two-game cushion above the cut in their refreshing push to return to the playoffs for the first time since they won the 2015 World Series.

After Austin Martin started the onslaught with an RBI single, Castro hit his ninth homer to set a career high as his helmet tumbled off on the exuberant turn around second base. Lewis then unloaded to finish an eight-pitch at-bat for his 15th home run — in just 40 games — this season.

RHP Seth Lugo (13-6, 2.72 ERA) will pitch for the Royals on Tuesday night. RHP Zebby Matthews, who began the year in Class A, is scheduled to make his major league debut in the middle game of the series as the rotation gets reshuffled following the injury to Joe Ryan.

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Source: Twins Beat Royals, Homers From Castro and Lewis

Filed Under: Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins

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