Whit Merrifield broke a 2-2 tie with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly and the Kansas City Royals edged the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Andrew Benintendi led off the inning with a pinch-hit double off Giants reliever John Brebbia. Nicky Lopez moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt and Merrifield brought him home.

Brandon Belt homered for the Giants, whose five-game winning streak ended.

Kansas City jumped ahead in the first inning when San Francisco shortstop Brandon Crawford, a four-time Gold Glove winner, made a rare fielding error on a slow chopper by MJ Melendez, allowing two runs to score.

Belt answered with a solo home run to right-center in the fourth. Curt Casali tied the game 2-2 with a sacrifice fly later in the fourth.

Jose Cuas (1-0) entered with one out in the seventh and retired three batters to earn his first career victory. The 27-year-old converted infielder had toiled in the minors for six years before making his big-league debut earlier this season.

Scott Barlow recorded the last five outs for his seventh save in eight opportunities as Kansas City snapped a four-game losing streak.

UP NEXT

The Royals open a three-game series at Oakland on Friday.