Two ice-cold hitters -- Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier -- broke long hitless streaks as the Kansas City Royals pounded the Minnesota Twins 8-3 Friday night in the first game of a three-game series.

Their output helped the Royals score more runs Friday than they did (five) in the three-game series against Tampa Bay.

Soler was 0-for-21 coming into the game, and he went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Dozier returned from the 10-day injured list mired in an 0-for-31 slump, and he went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Kris Bubic (1-0) continued to pitch well. He allowed one run on four hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out five. He made his first appearance of the season against the Twins May 2, when he allowed two runs and three hits in one inning. Since then, he's allowed three earned runs in 28 2/3 innings (0.94 ERA).

Randy Dobnak (1-4) took the loss. He gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings.

Bubic allowed three baserunners in the first but escaped unscathed with the benefit of a double play. But he settled down before allowing a leadoff home run to Mitch Garver in the fourth.

The Royals answered with three in the top of the third. Dozier drew a two-out walk. He scored on a ground ball double by Michael A. Taylor. Taylor then scored on a Whit Merrifield single. Merrifield went to second on the throw to the plate, and he scored on a single by Carlos Santana.

The Royals got five more in the seventh. Soler, Dozier and Taylor led off the inning with singles, ending Dobnak's night. Merrifield drove in two with a double, and Santana drove in the third with a sacrifice fly. Salvador Perez and Adalberto Mondesi drove in runs with singles. The Royals had a season-high six hits in the seventh.

The Twins got two runs in the seventh when reliever Tyler Zuber walked three straight hitters. One scored on a single by pinch-hitter Trevor Larnach and the other on a wild pitch.

--Field Level Media