Twins beat lowly Royals for fifth win in six games

Jorge Polanco smacked a three-run home run and the Minnesota Twins held off a late comeback attempt by the Kansas City Royals to earn an 8-6 victory on Friday night in the second game of a four-game series in Minneapolis.

Polanco went deep as part of a four-run fourth, which also included Michael A. Taylor's RBI double. Jose Miranda added a solo home run an inning later for the Twins, who have won five of their last six.

Salvador Perez helped Kansas City storm back by hitting a solo home run in the sixth before lining a run-scoring single to left in the seventh to cut the Royals' deficit to two.

However, Caleb Thielbar worked around a leadoff double and a walk in the eighth and Jorge Lopez escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth to secure his second save.

Pablo Lopez (2-2) picked up the win after giving up six runs on eight hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

Perez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run. Edward Olivares and Nick Pratto also had three hits apiece for Kansas City, which has lost 12 of its last 14 games.

Minnesota had a golden opportunity to blow the game open in the second when it loaded the bases with no outs. Taylor walked to bring home a run and Max Kepler hit a sacrifice fly as the Twins settled for two runs and a 3-1 edge.

Pratto pulled the Royals within 3-2 in the fourth with an RBI single. Minnesota then struck for four runs in the bottom of the frame before Miranda greeted Kansas City reliever Josh Taylor in the fifth with his third homer of the season to make it 8-2.

Taylor took over for Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-5), who surrendered seven runs on seven hits in four innings while walking four and fanning four.

Along with Perez, Pratto aided the comeback bid with an RBI single in the sixth, and Bobby Witt Jr.'s RBI fielder's choice plated another run in the seventh.

After rain delayed first pitch by nearly two hours, Witt led off the game with a double and later scored on Perez's sacrifice fly. But Kepler quickly knotted the score at 1-1, blasting a 412-foot solo shot in the home half of the first.