Jose Miranda, Manuel Margot help Twins take down Royals again

Jose Miranda drove in two runs, Manuel Margot went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

Edouard Julien also had an RBI for the Twins, who have won the first two games of the four-game series. Byron Buxton went 2-for-2 with a triple and two walks.

Garrett Hampson and Kyle Isbel had one RBI apiece for Kansas City. The Royals managed only five hits -- three singles and two doubles -- as they lost their third straight after an eight-game winning streak.

Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (2-0) allowed two runs on three hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Royals left-hander Cole Ragans (4-4) gave up three runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked one and fanned seven.

Twins closer Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save of the season and his second in as many nights. Duran has five saves in the Twins' past six games.

The Twins jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

Margot reached on an infield single, Carlos Correa followed with a double and Miranda drove both of them in with a two-run single to center. The sequence marked the continuation of a hot series for Miranda, who hit a two-run homer one night earlier.

Minnesota made it 3-0 in the fourth. Margot hit a two-out, run-scoring double to drive in Christian Vazquez. It marked Margot's first RBI since he drove in five runs on May 9 against the Seattle Mariners.

In the top of the fifth, Kansas City scored a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 3-2. Hampson hit an RBI single to right field to drive in Nick Loftin, and in the next at-bat Isbel had an RBI groundout to score Hunter Renfroe.

The Twins increased their lead to 4-2 in the eighth. Buxton drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Julien's single to right.

--Field Level Media