Maikel Garcia hit a two-run homer and Michael Wacha yielded a run while pitching into the sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 2-1 despite star Bobby Witt Jr. exiting late due to low back spasms Friday night.
Though the Royals have won two straight and improved to 3-4 on a nine-game homestand, Witt did not come out for the top of the seventh with the reported back issue. The All-Star shortstop was 0-for-3 Friday, but is batting .294 with 21 homers and 77 RBIs.
It’s uncertain what Witt’s status will be for the rest of this series.
Thankfully for Kansas City (72-69), one game out of the final wild-card spot in the AL, it held on without Witt. Wacha (9-11) allowed only an RBI double to Jhonny Pereda during the fifth inning, and three other hits with two walks and striking out five over 5 2/3 innings.
Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV, Taylor Clarke and Carlos Estevez (38 saves) held the Twins to just one hit.
Back from a shoulder injury and making his first start since June 3, Minnesota’s Pablo Lopez (5-4) was strong in yielding only Garcia’s homer in the third, five other hits and only one walk on 92 pitches through six innings.
However, the Twins (62-79), who were just swept in a four-game home series by the Chicago White Sox this week, managed just five hits, stranded eight men and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
With two out in the third, Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino singled for his second hit of the night, then Garcia smashed a Lopez pitch over the heart of the plate into the left-field fan area for a 2-0 lead.
Minnesota got its only run with one out in the fifth. The 8th and 9th batters in the order, Brooks Lee and Pereda, posted back-to-back doubles to make it a 2-1 contest.
The Royals lead 6-5 on the season series versus Minnesota, where five of those meetings have been decided by one run.
