In the eighth inning, Rosario stroked an 0-2 changeup from reliever Burch Smith into short right-center field to score Robbie Grossman, Mitch Garver and Brian Dozier. Rosario barely beat Jorge Soler's throw to second, and the Royals were slow to respond to Dozier rounding third.
Lynn (3-4), whose ERA was well over 7.00 after losing on May 16 to his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals, scattered six hits over six innings and allowed two runs Monday. He walked three and fanned five, limiting Kansas City to two hits in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Five relievers combined to record the last nine outs, with Fernando Rodney pitching the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his 11th save despite being tagged for Jorge Soler's solo shot in the ninth, Soler's seventh of the year.
Jakob Junis (5-4) ate the loss despite logging a quality start. Junis yielded six hits and three runs over six innings, walking four and whiffing seven.
Neither team scored for the first four innings, although both created plenty of chances. Lynn wormed out of a bases-loaded, one-out threat in the second, slipping a called third strike by Alcides Escobar before getting an infield out.
The Twins finally broke through in the fifth when Miguel Sano skied a two-run homer over leaping center fielder Jon Jay, Sano's sixth of the year. But Mike Moustakas laced a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the inning.
Dozier's two-out RBI single in the sixth put Minnesota ahead to stay. Rosario's eighth-inning hit appeared to put the game away, but the Royals rallied with two in their half of the inning on a throwing error and Whit Merrifield's run-producing single.
Garver tacked on critical insurance for the Twins with a two-run double in the ninth.
Jay collected four hits, including three doubles, to lead Kansas City.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Kansas City | |
Lance Lynn | Player | Jakob Junis |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.0 | IP | 6.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 7 |
6 | Hits | 6 |
3.00 | ERA | 4.50 |
Minnesota | Kansas City | |
Brian Dozier | Player | Jon Jay |
3 | Hits | 4 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 7 |
.600 | Avg | .800 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Minnesota | 12 | 1 | 20 | .308 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Kansas City | 13 | 1 | 20 | .325 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |