Starling Marte's blast helps Royals hold off Twins

Starling Marte belted a three-run shot for his first home run of the season, and the Kansas City Royals held on for a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Nick Loftin went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Kansas City, which finished its series with three wins in four games. Vinnie Pasquantino went 2-for-4 with two runs and a double.

Josh Bell hit a three-run homer for Minnesota. Ryan Kreidler and Victor Caratini each drove in a run.

Royals left-hander Noah Cameron (3-4) allowed one unearned run on three hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out seven, and he threw 65 of 104 pitches for strikes.

Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-4) gave up two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

Royals right-hander Lucas Erceg got the final two outs for his 12th save.

Minnesota opened the scoring with a run in the second. Kreidler hit an RBI groundout to score Kody Clemens.

Loftin evened the score at 1 with an RBI double in the fourth.

The Royals took command with four runs in the fifth to grab a 5-1 lead. All of their runs came with two outs.

Maikel Garcia started the big inning with an RBI single to right to drive in Carter Jensen. Moments later, Marte smashed a three-run, 441-foot homer over the wall in center.

The blast ended Marte's power drought that spanned his first 28 games of the season. It also marked his first homer since joining the Royals in the offseason.

Carter Jensen added a sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 6-1 lead in the eighth.

The Twins tried to rally in the ninth. Orlando Arcia drew a leadoff walk, Clemens singled to left, and Bell crushed a 442-foot homer to right to cut the deficit to 6-4.

Caratini ripped an RBI single up the middle later in the inning to make it 6-5. Two batters later, Brooks Lee flied out to the warning track in left to end the game.

-Field Level Media