EditorsNote: 3rd graf, add double that preceded home run in fifth inning, tweak to other grafs, added losing pitcher in last graf
Nelson Cruz homered and doubled and Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez each had two hits to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the seven-inning first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Cruz had two RBIs and two runs scored.
Jake Odorizzi, making his second start after beginning the season on the 10-day injured list with an intercostal strain, retired the first 11 batters he faced, including six by strikeout, and pitched four shutout innings before allowing a double to Ryan McBroom and a two-run homer to Maikel Franco to open the fifth.
Odorizzi then gave way to Tyler Duffey (1-0), who retired all three batters he faced to pick up the victory. Taylor Rogers pitched around a pair of singles in the seventh to earn his fifth save.
Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the third on Cruz's fifth home run of the season, a 448-foot laser off the third deck façade in left off reliever Tyler Zuber that drove in Polanco, who had singled and advanced to second on an error by Whit Merrifield.
The Twins made it 3-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Byron Buxton, driving in Miguel Sano, who had singled and advanced to third on a single by Arraez.
The Royals cut it to 3-2 in the fifth when McBroom led off with a double down the right field line that was originally ruled foul but was overturned on replay, and then he scored on Franco's 409-foot homer to left-center.
The Twins extended their lead to 4-2 in the fifth on back-to-back two-out doubles by Cruz, who narrowly missed a home run when Alex Gordon brought the ball back into the park with a leaping catch attempt at the left field fence, and Eddie Rosario.
Ian Kennedy pitched two scoreless innings in his first start since 2018, allowing one hit and a walk while striking out three. Jakob Junis, expected to be the primary pitcher after Kennedy, was scratched after suffering back spasms in warmups. Gabe Speier (0-1) took the loss, having given up the single to Polanco before the home run by Cruz.
--Field Level Media
