Benintendi goes deep twice as Royals rout Twins
ROYALS 11, TWINS 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Andrew Benintendi hit two home runs, Salvador Perez homered and drove in three runs, and the Kansas City Royals cruised to an 11-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Danny Duffy (4-1) continued his strong start to the season in helping the AL Central-leading Royals bounce back from Friday night’s 9-1 loss. He allowed 1 run and 2 hits in 7 innings, striking out 7.
“With Duffy on the mound, we know what we’re going to get,” said Benintendi, who played for the University of Arkansas. “To give ourselves a little lead there early to where it seems like sometimes we get down early and we’ve got to fight back. So, to get the lead early was nice.”
Kansas City’s 16-9 start is good for a .640 winning percentage, which is the third-best mark through 25 games in team history.
Matt Shoemaker (1-3) couldn’t sustain Minnesota’s momentum after back-to-back wins. He gave up a career-high 9 runs and tied his career-high with 8 earned runs al- lowed in just 31/3 innings.
“It’s going to turn,” Shoemaker said after his ERA rose to 7.83. “It’s going to change. I’m going to keep fighting to get better. It’s going to happen. It’s just frustrating.”
Alex Kiriloff homered for the second consecutive day for Minnesota and Nelson Cruz added his 425th career home run.
Kiriloff’s home run in the seventh ended Duffy’s streak of 17 con- secutive innings without allowing an earned run.
ASTROS 3, RAYS 1 Jose Urquidy scattered four hits over seven shutout innings and Houston
made an early lead stand up, beating Tampa Bay. Jose Altuve doubled on the first pitch of the game, leading to a three-run inning.
ORIOLES 8, ATHLETICS 4 Matt Harvey won his third consecutive start and Baltimore took advantage of Oakland’s sloppy play to score six runs in the third inning.
YANKEES 6, TIGERS 4 Jameson Taillon earned his first win in exactly two years, Aaron Judge had three hits and three RBI, and New York beat Detroit.
WHITE SOX 7, INDIANS 3 Tim Anderson hit a grand slam, Leury Garcia drove in three runs from the No. 9 spot in the lineup and Chicago beat Cleveland.
RANGERS 8, RED SOX 6 Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered, had an RBI triple among his trio of hits, and Willie Calhoun’s three hits included a two-run home run as Texas beat Boston.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 5, PHILLIES 4 Michael Conforto hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the ninth inning and New York defeated Philadelphia. Conforto also had a two-run double in a four-run first inning against former teammate Zack Wheeler.
NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 2 Patrick Corbin ended his 10-game losing streak, pitching seven solid innings and leading Washington over Miami. Josh Bell hit a bases-loaded double and drove in four runs.
CUBS 3, REDS 2 Nick Hoerner hit a go-ahead single in the sixth inning and Chicago’s bullpen shut down Cincinnati. Hoerner drove in Javier Baez with one of his three hits, a two-out single to center field off reliever Sean Doolittle to complete Chicago’s rally from a 2-0 deficit.
CARDINALS 12, PIRATES 5 Jack Flaherty pitched six solid innings to keep his record perfect and Paul DeJong hit a three-run home run in the first inning to send St. Louis over Pittsburgh. Flaherty struck out nine while winning his fifth consecutive start.
PADRES 6, GIANTS 2 Blake Snell earned his first win for San Diego, backed by Manny Machado’s early three-run home run in a victory over San Francisco.
ROCKIES 14, DIAMONDBACKS 6 Dom Nunez hit a grand slam, Trevor Story had three hits that included a two-run home run and Colorado pounded out 18 hits in a victory over Arizona.
BREWERS 6, DODGERS 5 (11) Travis Shaw homered and hit a game-winning single, and Milwaukee scored three runs in the 11th inning to beat Los Angeles.
INTERLEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 6, BRAVES 5 (10) Randal Grichuk lined an RBI single in the 10th inning, George Springer hit his first two home runs with the Blue Jays, and Toronto beat Atlanta.