
Nelson Cruz homered twice, continuing his climb up the all-time leaderboard, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Monday night.
Devin Smeltzer (2-0) picked up the win in relief of opener Matt Wisler for Minnesota. Smeltzer allowed one hit in 2-2/3 innings while striking out three batters. The Twins won three of four games in the series after being swept by the Royals in Kansas City last week.
Rookie Kris Bubic (0-3) surrendered two runs on four hits and four walks in 4-1/3 innings for the Royals. Hunter Dozier homered in the ninth inning to end Minnesota’s shutout bid.
Cruz surpassed Duke Snider and tied Mark Teixeira with his 409th career homer, good for 55th all-time.
UP NEXT
Kansas City returns home for two games against Cincinnati, which had its weekend series postponed after a player tested positive for COVID-19. RHP Brad Keller (2-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start Tuesday’s game for Kansas City. He’s thrown 11 scoreless innings in two starts this season. Pregame begins at 6:30, with game time at 7:05. You can hear the broadcast from the Royals’ Radio Network on KMMO FM 102.9.


