Royals snap losing streak, beat Twins 9-4

The winning streak has started. The Royals even up the series in Minneapolis with a 9-4 victory, snapping a losing streak of 10.

Ian Kennedy, making the return from the disabled list, struggled with base runners in his three innings of work, ultimately giving up two runs before leaving the game.

The Royals got their run scoring started in the first inning, with Whit Merrifield and doubling and Salvador Perez driving him in with a single. After the Twins tied it up with a home run in the first, the Royals tacked on four runs in the second inning, three combing by way of an Adalberto Mondesi home run.

Brian Flynn was very solid in relief, tossing four scoreless innings, allowing only three Twins to reach. The middle of the Twins bullpen keep the Royals relatively quiet until Addison Reed came to pitch (he struggles in late-game situations against the Royals). The Royals tacked on three in the ninth with Hunter Dozier tripling in Lucas Duda and Alex Gordon going deep for his sixth home run of the year.

Jason Hammel made his first relief appearance of the year. He looked good in his first inning of work, striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning, even hitting 95 MPH with his fastball. He gave up two garbage-time runs in the ninth inning with a Max Kepler triple and a Bobby Wilson bloop single.

12:10 CT game tomorrow in the rubber match. Rule 5 acquisition Burch Smith will make his first start of the season and his first major league start since 2013. The Royals will take on the struggling Lance Lynn.