Royals 6, Twins 1: Norichika Aoki delivered the tiebreaking single, Billy Butler recorded a two-run base hit and Salvador Perez added a two-run triple during a six-run eighth inning as host Kansas City rallied to hand Minnesota its fourth straight loss.

Jarrod Dyson contributed a tying bunt single as the Royals registered seven of their nine hits in the eighth inning while overtaking the Twins in their last at-bat for the second straight night. The latest comeback boosted Kansas City's lead over second-place Detroit in the American League Central to 2 1/2 games.

Twins starter Phil Hughes (14-9) was charged with four runs and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings while losing for the first time since July 30. Counterpart Liam Hendriks retired the first 14 batters he faced and allowed one run and four hits in seven frames in his Kansas City debut while Wade Davis (8-2) pitched a scoreless eighth.

Kennys Vargas lined a one-out single to right field off Hendriks in the seventh and Oswaldo Arcia followed with a double to right-center, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. Hughes allowed two hits and tossed just 73 pitches over the first seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth, beginning with a leadoff single by Raul Ibanez.

Pinch-runner Lorenzo Cain stole second and moved to third on Mike Moustakas’ infield single before Dyson executed a safety squeeze one batter later to tie the contest. Aoki sent the go-ahead hit into left field, Butler dropped a single into right field to make it 4-1 and Perez capped the 10-batter inning with a triple to left-center field.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Royals 2B Omar Infante (shoulder) sat out for the second consecutive night. … Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe has six doubles over the last six contests and is two away of becoming the third major-leaguer with 40 this season. … Kansas City optioned RHP Aaron Crow to Double-A Northwest Arkansas to open a roster spot for Hendriks, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start in place of the injured Yordano Ventura (back).