Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – And then there were none.
Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run homer and the Minnesota Twins handed the Kansas
City Royals their first loss of the season with a 3-1 win on Wednesday night.
Arcia’s blast came in the fourth inning off Royals starter Edinson Volquez and
broke a 1-1 tie.
Kyle Gibson (1-1) continued his success against the Royals. He gave up a run
on nine hits with no walks over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 4-0 in four career
starts.
Gibson exited with runners at the corners in the seventh and Brian Duensing
retired Mike Moustakas on a foul popup to end the threat.
Casey Fien pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Glen Perkins tossed a perfect ninth to
earn his first save.
Alcides Escobar had three hits for the Royals, who had been the last remaining
unbeaten team in the majors.
They came within two wins of matching the 2003 team, which went 9-0, for the
best start in franchise history.
Volquez (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits in 7 2/3 innings.
It could have been a short outing for the right-hander, as the Twins loaded
the bases with no outs in the first inning on two singles and a walk. Volquez,
however, limited the damage to a Brian Dozier sacrifice fly.
The Royals tied it in the fourth when Alex Gordon drove in Moustakas with a
two-out single.
In the bottom of the inning, Arcia followed a two-out single by Trevor Plouffe
with a home run to right-center field.
Game Notes
Volquez had gone 5-0 with a 2.13 ERA over his final 10 road starts last season
with Pittsburgh … The Royals were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.