 and Co. took over. The only runs the staff allowed were solo homers by Byron Buxton and Marwin Gonzalez.''Solo homers, we can deal with those,'' said Junis, who worked into the fifth inning. ''You definitely don't want to give up the homer with two runners on, when you're in a jam and working to get out of the inning. That was my focus.'' Matt Wisler (0-1) served up McBroom's homer as Minnesota lost a one-run game for the second consecutive night.''They kept going, and we weren't able to muster anything else up or really even get a ton of baserunners or opportunities,'' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ''That is going to happen. I'm not really sure if I can point to anything specific. They went out there and threw the ball really well. They have good ability, that's for sure. We're going to have to get better at-bats and find ways to get some guys on base.'' The quintessential power-versus-pluck game played out through the first five innings.The Twins, who came into the game fourth in the league in homers, got another when Buxton went deep for the second straight night leading off third. Gonzalez hit his over the center field fence with one down in the fourth.The Royals, whose popgun offense came alive with 13 runs against the Cubs on Thursday, resorted to small-ball to coax across their first runs. Maikel Franco scored in the third after a double, sacrifice bunt from Lopez and a base hit by Heath, and Alex Gordon scored in the fifth after a single, Franco's groundout and Lopez's sharp single.Whit Merrifield nearly broke the game open with a three-run shot later in the fifth, but Twins left fielder Nick Cave drifted back to the wall and made a leaping grab in front of the Minnesota bullpen to keep the game knotted 2-all.The Royals finally got a long-ball of their own when McBroom hit the second of his career in the sixth.''I watched him in Triple-A before we got him and the ball was just jumping off the guy's bat to the point you couldn't ignore it,'' Royals manager Mike Matheny said. ''He has that ability to get the ball to carry with some loft.'' POP-UP SHOWERThe game was halted in the fifth inning for a sudden downpour that was over so quickly the grounds crew never fully got the tarp unrolled. In fact, most of the players never left the field before resuming after a 9-minute delay. The game pressed on the rest of the way despite constant thunder and lightning.ROYALS MOVESBefore the game, the Royals reinstated RHP Jorge Lopez from the bereavement list and designated him for assignment. They also reinstated RHP Chance Adams from the injured list and optioned him to their alternate training site, and they transferred LHP Mike Montgomery (lat strain) and RHP Glenn Sparkman (right forearm strain) to the 60-day IL.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: Heath (left hamstring strain) left in the fifth inning. Brett Phillips replaced him. ... RHP Josh Staumont (sore back) after retiring two batters. ... RF Hunter Dozier is progressing at the club's alternate site after returning from COVID-19. ''He's feeling good health-wise and I think it's just that timing,'' Matheny said. ''It just takes a little while.'' Twins: 3B Josh Donaldson (right calf strain) was placed on the IL retroactive to Tuesday. He was hurt against the Indians on July 31. ... 2B Luis Arraez (sore right knee) was out of the lineup for the second straight day.UP NEXTTwins RHP Jake Odorizzi makes his season debut Saturday against his former team after missing the start of the season with a right intercostal strain. He will face Royals LHP Danny Duffy (0-2, 4.11 ERA).''Is Jake going to go out there and throw 110 (pitches) in his first start? No,'' Baldelli said. ''We're just going to let him pitch and hopefully he can pitch us somewhere into the middle of the game.'' ---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
With skid broken, Royals look for more vs. TwinsThere is no "normal" to the 2020 MLB season. But right-hander Jakob Junis of the Royals feels like things are returning to normal ... sort of."Normal body soreness, normal arm soreness," he told reporters when asked about how he felt after making his season debut last Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.Now, he'll look to break his "normal" when it comes to the Minnesota Twins, whom the Royals host for the first of a three-game series Friday -- and against whom Junis has yet to earn a victory."I know that this season so far we haven't had a solid rotation," Junis added. "It's kind of been by committee. But having Brad (Keller) back, myself back, Danny (Duffy), Brady (Singer) and Kris (Bubic), it's a pretty solid five. It looks like we have something to look forward to with a five-day rotation." Junis (0-0, 4.15 ERA) missed the first week of the season after starting the season on the injured list as he recovered from COVID-19. Projected Opening Day starter Keller made his season debut Thursday in a 13-2 win over the Cubs after a delay similar to that of Junis. Singer and Bubic both made their MLB debuts this season.Junis hopes that continuity will pay off."I think it's good," he said. "I hope we can get in a rhythm and string some good starts together and get some wins." Junis is 0-1 with a 4.28 ERA in seven career starts against the Twins. He has 40 strikeouts and 16 walks in 33 2/3 innings.The Royals need some wins heading into this series. Their win Thursday ended a six-game losing streak, and in a short season, runs like those can prove catastrophic."Frustration," Royals manager Mike Matheny said about what he saw in his team during the streak. "That's the way it should be. The day we're good with losing a bunch of games in a row is the day we ought to hand our jerseys in. It's our job to figure out ways to win games."We've just got to keep preaching the process and making sure our minds never go in that direction." The Twins have had no trouble with continuity. Despite blowing a ninth-inning lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates to end their six-game winning streak Thursday, the Twins still own half-game lead on the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League.They're one of the highest-scoring teams in the AL, averaging more than 5.2 runs per game. They also have one of baseball's best pitching staffs; their 2.97 ERA is second in the AL and fourth in MLB, despite having three-fifths of their expected starting rotation currently on the injured list.Left-hander Rich Hill went on the 10-day IL Tuesday with shoulder fatigue, joining righties Homer Bailey (right biceps tendinitis) and Jake Odorizzi (right intercostal strain) -- the latter is expected to make his season debut Saturday against the Royals.Lefty Devin Smeltzer (1-0, 11.57) will take the mound for Rocco Baldelli's squad Friday. It will be his third appearance of 2020, but his first start. He had his best start of 2019 against the Royals, when he allowed two harmless singles in six scoreless innings.Smeltzer believes he belongs in the rotation."Before we got sent home, (pitching coach) Wes (Johnson) had a little analogy -- you never can put the toothpaste back in the tube," Smeltzer said during summer camp. "He said, 'We don't know how long this (shut down) will be, but this might be the only time in your career when you can go home and really work on yourself and get better.'"I went home and took care of business. I really worked hard on the slider. I feel confident with it." --Field Level Media
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