Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Match Player Stats On Jun 03, 2021

Salvador Perez hit two home runs for the second consecutive game as the Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-5 in the first game of a four-game series in Kansas City.

The Royals won their fourth straight.

Josh Donaldson hit two solo home runs and a double for the Twins.

Jakob Junis (2-3) earned the win. Hansel Robles (1-2) took the loss. Scott Barlow earned a two-inning save.

Both clubs claimed solo home runs in the first inning. Donaldson hit a 2-0 pitch into the bullpen in left field for the Twins. The Royals answered in the bottom of the first. Perez hit a ball six inches past 456 feet to right-center.

Perez now has 27 home runs in his career against the Twins.

The Royals got another run in the third when Andrew Benintendi was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but Jorge Soler popped out to end the inning.

The Twins tied it in the fourth on a two-out single by Nick Gordon. The 2014 first-round draft pick knocked in Miguel Sano for his first career RBI.

Hunter Dozier hit the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth into the Twins' bullpen in left, giving the Royals a 3-2 lead. Whit Merrifield got his American League-leading sixth sacrifice fly later in the fourth to give the Royals a two-run lead.

The lead was short-lived. Donaldson and Jorge Polanco led off the fifth with back-to-back doubles. After Polanco moved to third on an error by pitcher Kris Bubic, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Sano.

Sano, who is mired in an 0-for-21 skid with 12 strikeouts, was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts but also tallied a run and an RBI.

Perez's second home run of the night gave the Royals the lead once again. But Donaldson's second long ball tied it again in the seventh.

Kansas City scored in the bottom of the seventh when Carlos Santana led off with a walk. Pinch runner Jarrod Dyson stole second, advanced to third on a fielding error by Gilberto Celestino and scored on a throwing error by Celestino.

--Field Level Media