Royals Report: KC Wins Third Straight Series

The Royals notched their third straight series win by defeating the Minnesota Twins 11-4 on Sunday afternoon. Rally Mantis might be gone, but the team’s momentum boost lives on.

The Kansas City Royals improved to 57-60 with Saturday’s 11-4 victory, and remain 11.0 games behind the Indians in the AL Central. Minnesota improved to 47-70, but still remain in last place in the Central.

The KC Royals bashed 16 hits along with benefiting from four errors by the Minnesota Twins to plate 11 runs. Kansas City scored one run in the first inning when Lorenzo Cain‘s sacrifice fly drove in Paulo Orlando from third base after Orlando began the game with a triple.

Paulo Orlando was the big gun, going 4 for 5 with 1, walk, 2 singles, 1 triple, 1 home run, and three RBIs. Orlando’s three-run shot capped the Kansas City Royals six-run fourth inning that catapulted them to a commanding 7-1 lead.

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However, Edinson Volquez allowed one run in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth to enable the Twins to pull within three runs at 7-4. The two runs in the fourth were unearned due to Eric Hosmer‘s error which permitted Twins runners to score from second and third with two outs.

The Royals put the game away with four runs in the sixth inning, all of which were unearned due to two errors by the Twins in the inning. At that point, the outcome wasn’t really in question. The only remaining drama was if Orlando could collect a single and double to complete the cycle.

Orlando notched a singles in the seventh and ninth innings, falling one base short of the cycle. Even so, Orlando enjoyed a fabulous day collecting 9 bases on the day with one walk.

Lorenzo Cain also stroked four hits, going 4 for 4 with 3 singles, 1 double, and 3 RBIs that included his first inning sacrifice fly. Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar also chipped in with multi-hit games. Gordon contributed two singles, while Escobar slammed a two-run triple in the fourth inning to go with two singles.

Chris Young contributed three scoreless frames of relief following Volquez’s 6.0 inning outing in which he allowed only five hits, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs with 3 strikeouts.

The KC Royals are now 6-1 since adopting Rally Mantis, and 6-2 after winning three consecutive series two games to one. While the team will pretty much have to finish the season playing at a similar clip to have a realistic playoff shot, at least they’ve made a good start.

Next: What Will Royals Do With Cheslor Cuthbert In 2017?

But, a protracted winning streak is what will really make the clubhouse believe.