The Kansas City Royals (43-39) took the series opener on the road against the Minnesota Twins (37-44) thanks to their pitching staff.
Starting pitcher Danny Duffy (5-7) pitched 5.2 innings, allowing just one runner to cross home. Duffy ran into trouble in the sixth with runners on first and second with no outs. Duffy retired the next two batters and was then pulled for reliever Aaron Crow. The Royals bullpen pitched 3.1 innings with no runs and four strikeouts to hold off the Twins.
Duffy has allowed seven earned runs in his last 37.1 innings according to MLB.com.
Twins starter Yohan Pino (0-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in his 5.2 innings of work. Shortstop Alcides Escobar went 2-for-4 with four RBIs raising his batting average to .295. Escobar was the worst everyday hitter in baseball last year according to The Kansas City Star.
The Royals are now 3.5 games behind the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. The Twins are in the cellar of their division, nine games back of Detroit.