The Royals got an early lead and held on to beat the Twins 3-1 and end an eight-game losing streak Wednesday afternoon. The win also prevented them from going 0-9 on their road trip, which ended yesterday.
Starting pitcher D.J. Carrasco (3-3) was handed a 2-0 lead before he even took his first inning warm-up pitches. Terrence long drove in David DeJesus with a ground–rule double and Matt Stairs singled in Long with a single.
DeJesus, who tied a career high with four base hits, pushed the Royals lead to 3-0 with a single to score Tony Graffanino in the fourth inning.
On the mound, Carrasco got two outs in the seventh inning before being replaced by Jimmy Gobble. The only run Carrasco gave up came in the seventh when Shannon Stewart drove in Jacque Jones with a sacrifice fly. He gave up five Minnesota base hits and walked three batters with five strikeouts.
Gobble gave up a walk in the seventh, but got out of the jam. He left the game with two outs in the eighth and Mike MacDougal entered the game and got the final out of the eighth. He allowed an infield single to Luis Rivas in the ninth inning, but was able to escape with his 9th save of the season.
