Ervin Santana got past a rocky first inning and pitched eight strong innings, as the Royals offense came around in the eighth inning for a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in its home opener.
Santana gave up a run and eight singles. He struck out seven, walked one and hit a batter. Santana allowed only four hits after the first inning, when the Twins scored.
Twins right-hander Kevin Correia (0-1) limited the Royals to five singles and no runs over the first seven innings before Lorenzo Cain doubled to right-center. After Chris Getz’s sacrifice bunt moved Cain to third, Alex Gordon singled to tie the score. Escobar’s double scored Gordon and knocked Correia out of the game. Jared Burton gave up a run-scoring single to Billy Butler for added insurance.
Former Missouri Tiger Aaron Crow worked the ninth to earn his first save of the season and the third of his career — two against the Twins.
