Paul DeJong went 3-for-3 with a double and a solo homer, and the Kansas City Royals pulled away for a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Bobby Witt Jr. finished 2-for-4 with a solo homer for the Royals, who avoided a three-game sweep by winning the series finale. Kyle Isbel and Vinnie Pasquantino also drove in one run apiece.
Carlos Santana hit a solo homer for Minnesota’s lone run.
Royals left-hander Cole Ragans (10-7) limited the Twins to one run on five hits in seven innings. He walked none, struck out eight and fired 67 of 106 pitches for strikes.
Twins right-hander Louie Varland (0-5) remained winless in his seventh start. He allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings, and he walked one and fanned three.
Royals right-hander Lucas Erceg pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his fifth save.
The Royals started the scoring in the top of the second. DeJong hit a one-out double, advanced to third on Freddy Fermin’s single and scored on Isbel’s groundout.
Witt led off the third inning with a solo homer to increase the Royals’ lead to 2-0. He worked the count full before belting a 398-foot shot to left-center field.
The blast marked Witt Jr.’s second homer of the series and his 24th homer of the season.
The Twins got on the scoreboard during the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Santana hit a solo shot to left for his 16th homer.
In the sixth, DeJong joined the power surge with a solo homer to left-center field to make it 3-1 in favor of the Royals. The 435-foot blast marked his 20th homer of the season and his second since joining Kansas City before the trade deadline.
Pasquantino provided the final run for the Royals in the seventh. He hit an RBI double to left to drive in Maikel Garcia from third base.