Royals Blow Lead, but Win

Bullpen trouble has reared its ugly head again for the Royals, but Johnny Damon bails them out against the Twins. After the Twins scored two in the top of the ninth to tie the game, Damon launched his first home run of the year leading off the bottom of the ninth, to lift Kansas City to a 6-5 win. The Royals led 5-3, when closer Ricky Bottalico took over in the ninth. He surrendered a two-run homer to Jacque Jones that tied the game. Bottalico ends up with the win. Carlos Beltran drove in two runs for Kansas City, and Joe Randa had three hits. The Royals took three out of four from the Twins, and are off to a 5-3 start. Baltimore visits for three games at Kauffman Stadium, starting tonight. Cal Ripken comes to Kansas City needing six hits to reach 3-thousand for his career.