KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Third baseman Mike Moustakas homered and drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals rallied to defeat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 Monday night.

Moustakas singled home right fielder Paulo Orlando with the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth. Catcher Salvador Perez opened the eighth with a single and Jarrod Dyson ran for him. After losing pitcher Casey Fien (0-1) made five throws to first base, Orlando singled up the middle, moving Dyson to third. Dyson scored on second baseman Christian Colon's ground out.

Moustakas, who hit a two-run homer in the fifth, brought Orlando home with a crisp single to left.

The Twins batted around in a four-run sixth to take a 5-3 lead. Third baseman Trevor Ploufee, left fielder Oswaldo Arcia, catcher Kurt Suzuki and center fielder Shane Robinson stroked two-out RBI singles.

After Royals left-hander Jason Vargas did not allow a hit in the first three innings, eight of the next 15 Twins batters delivered hits. Vargas was pulled after 5 2/3 innings and 84 pitches.

The Royals got a run back in their half of the sixth when Colon's double scored Orlando, who walked.

Right-hander Chris Young (1-0) worked two flawless innings to earn the victory. Wade Davis pitched a perfect ninth to collect his third save in as many chances. Davis is being used in the closer's role with Greg Holland on the disabled list.

Left fielder Alex Gordon, who had right wrist surgery in late December, homered with one out in the second to put the Royals up 1-0. Gordon hit a 3-1 offering from lefty Tommy Milone out to right. It was Gordon's first home run since Sept. 3, ending a span of 108 homerless at-bats. Gordon had just one single in 12 at-bats against left-handers before centering one up off Milone.

The Twins started the fourth with singles by shortstop Danny Santana, right fielder Torii Hunter and first baseman Joe Mauer. Santana scored on Mauer's single to tie the score at 1. Vargas struck out second baseman Brian Dozier looking and retired the next two batters on fly balls to prevent it from being a larger inning.

Moustakas homered in the fifth with Colon aboard, giving the Royals a 3-1 advantage. Milone limited left-handed hitters to two singles in 15 at-bats in three starts this season before yielding the home runs to Gordon and Moustakas, both who swing from the left side. In his previous 20 starts, Milone had not allowed more than two hits against left-handed hitters in a game.

NOTES: Major League Baseball suspended Royals RHP Kelvin Herrera five games for "intentionally throwing a pitch in the head area of (Oakland's) Brett Lawrie" in the eighth inning Sunday. Herrera appealed the decision. MLB also announced it was fining Royals RHP Yordano Ventura for intentionally throwing a pitch that hit Lawrie in the fourth inning Saturday. "Honestly, it's better than I expected," Royals manager Ned Yost said of the disciplinary action. ... Twins RF Torii Hunter began the night leading all active opponents with 119 hits, 74 RBIs and 55 runs at Kauffman Stadium. ... Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey will start the series finale Wednesday, while the Royals will counter with RHP Jeremy Guthrie. Pelfrey is 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in three career starts against Kansas City.