Jim Thome hit his 596th career home run and Joe Nathan picked up the save for the second day in a row to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 4-3 win over the Royals.
Thome’s tiebreaking three-run drive came off Felipe Paulino in the sixth inning, leaving him four shy of becoming the eighth player to hit 600 home runs.
Jeff Francoeur homered and Melky Cabrera added two hits for the Royals. Paulino (1-3) struck out eight in seven innings, yielding four runs and seven hits.
Brian Duensing (7-7) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Twins, who started a crucial 12-game homestand by taking three of four from the Royals, dropping them further back in the NL Central.
