THREE IN A ROW! Royals 7, Twins 3

For the first time since June 19, the Royals have won three straight baseball games. And on this day, they scored seven whole runs! That's like, two weeks' worth!

Oh, and Yordano Ventura pitched a dynamite game. He gave up two home runs in the opening three innings, but he then settled down and pitched magnificently to earn his eighth win of the year.

In all, it was a good night in Minnesota for the defending World Series champions.

Kansas City plated a run in each of the first two innings. Eric Hosmer doubled home Lorenzo Cain in the first, and Paulo Orlando lined a single into right to score Alex Gordon in the second. But the 2-0 lead didn't last long, as Minnesota socked a pair of home runs to take the lead. Miguel Sano bopped a solo homer in the second, and Hunter Dozier clobbered a hanging breaker for a two-run bomb in the third. After three innings, the Twins led 3-2.

In the top of the fifth, the Royals loaded the bases with two men out before Salvador Perez shattered his bat, blooping a perfectly placed single just over the infielders' heads in left field. The bloop scored two runs, putting Kansas City ahead to stay at 4-3.

The Royals added two more runs in the sixth on an RBI double from Raul Mondesi. He would steal third and score on a wild pitch. And in the seventh, Kendrys Morales smashed his team-leading 19th home run into right-center field.

Orlando was brilliant all evening. In addition to having two hits and an RBI, he made two spectacular catches in center field. One came in the fourth when he robbed Miguel Sano of a double in the gap with a fantastic, running dive, and the other came in the eighth when Robbie Grossman had a double taken away by another diving play. Orlando, despite being used as a defensive replacement, was not a good defensive right fielder, and he has looked like one of the best defensive players in the game since moving to center.

As for Ventura, his ERA lowered to 4.60, which is the lowest it's been since June 17. He fired 7.0 innings of four-hit ball, surrendering three runs, all by way of home runs. He struck out nine and walked only one, which, shockingly, is a recipe to pitch deep into games and achieve better results. He earned his second straight win, improving him to 8-9.

Kyle Gibson, who used to own the Royals, was bombed for 10 hits and six runs in 5.0 innings. He struck out four and walked two. His ERA climbed above 5.00. It was nice to see the Royals actually hit a pitcher that should be hit hard. He took the loss to drop to 4-7.

Matt Strahm threw a scoreless eighth, striking out his 11th batter of the year in just his 19th batter faced. Joakim Soria handled the ninth.

This is the first time that the Royals have won three straight baseball games since June 19 - Father's Day. It's been a very, very long time. And tomorrow, they'll go for their first three-series win streak since June 1.

The Royals are 56-59. Tomorrow, Dillon Gee opposes Tyler Duffey. Runs will be scored.

And also: RIP Royals rally mantis. Well...I'm not sure if it's dead yet, but the team seemed perplexed as to why it wasn't doing well after embarking on an airplane ride and being carried around to various baseball stadiums.

Oh, and I'm going to plug this one more time! If you're in the Olathe area tomorrow morning, stop by our fundraiser, get your car washed, eat some cookies, and support the Kansas City police department!

THIS IS HAPPENING TOMORROW! We're raising money for both Missouri and Kansas KCPD! Come out and support! pic.twitter.com/Ds2w2f1E3g

— Sarah Davis (@SarahDInKC) August 12, 2016