Twins Waste Park Bang, Lose 4-3 to Royals

Ervin Santana pitched well and Byung Ho Park drilled his first major league dinger, but neither were enough as Kansas City rallied in the eighth for a 4-3 victory.  The Twins are now 0-4 on the season, as close observers have noted.

Minnesota drew first blood in the second, when Kurt Suzuki plated Eduardo Escobar with a double.  Santana immediately gave up the lead in the bottom of the frame, allowing a 2-run single to Reymond Fuentes.

The Twins chased Yordano Ventura in the sixth on a pair of lead-off walks to Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano.  A sharp 2-out single by ED off Luke Hochevar knotted the game at 2-2.  Santana issued his only two walks in the bottom of the inning but squeaked out of the jam on A MIGUEL SANO CATCH OF A SHALLOW POP FLY.

Both teams wasted opportunities in the seventh, with a Brian Dozier double going for naught and a bases loaded rally by Kansas City ending with Fernando Abad striking out former Twin Kendrys Morales.

What looked like the biggest hit of the young season took place in the top of the eighth, when Byung Ho Park creamed a solo shot to left center, his first major league dong.  Suzuki followed it up with a triple (!), but was unable to score.

That turned out to be unfortunate, as the Royals jumped all over Kevin Jepsen in the bottom of the inning, with the first three batters going single, triple, and sac fly to recapture the lead.  The triple went under defensive replacement Eddie Rosario's glove on a dive in left field, which just made everything that much better.

The Twins wasted getting Brian Dozier to second with nobody out in ninth, because life is pain.

Studs

• Park for the dinger
• Santana for a decent start
• Ed

Duds

Enjoy your weekend, everybody.