KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Kansas City Royals had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning and failed to score, the Minnesota Twins thought that could be a turning point in their favor.

Instead, Lorenzo Cain led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, his third hit, and scored the winning run as the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Friday night to snap a season-high four-game losing streak.

The Royals muffed a chance to win it in the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out, but came away empty after Mike Moustakas flied out to Aaron Hicks in shallow right-center. Pinch-runner Dusty Coleman, making his major league debut, was at third and started home, but then stopped about half way down and was caught in a rundown.

“Going into the inning after what happened it was the right spot at the right time,” Hicks said. “It felt good coming up in that situation and getting the outs. The momentum was on our side.”

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki knew the Royals had two momentum killers: relievers Greg Holland and Wade Davis.

“They’ve got a great bullpen with Holland and Davis,” Suzuki said. “It’s hard to score against them.”

Holland and Davis retired all six Twins they faced in the ninth and 10th. Davis (4-1) picked up the victory and lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 0.26, one run in 35 innings.

Cain led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, went to third on a wild pitch by Aaron Thompson (1-3) and scored on Jarrod Dyson’s fielder’s choice grounder to first baseman Joe Mauer.

“He beat it,” Suzuki said. “He’s

pretty fast. The play happens so fast.  You have to be ready to make the play, to catch it and put the tag down.  He’s going on contact. It was a chopper.  Speed kills.”

Cain’s head first slide beat Suzuki’s tag.

The Twins challenged the call, but after a 99-second review the ruling on the field stood.

“I knew I was definitely safe,” Cain said. “I felt my hand get in there before he tagged me. I was going on contact, but I kind of hesitated for a split second.”

The Royals tied it 2-2 in the eighth off Casey Fien when Kendrys Morales’ two-out single drove home Cain, who had singled and stole second. Morales leads the Royals with 51 RBIs.

“We definitely need this win,” Cain said. “We lost four in a row and it was definitely tough to go through. We found a way to get it done in the 10th.”

Minnesota super prospect Miguel Sano had a double, an RBI and scored a run in his second major league game.

Sano opened the fifth with a double to left-center, advanced to third on Eduardo Escobar’s infield single and scored on Hicks’ sacrifice fly. Sano’s second-inning single scored Eddie Rosario, who led off with a double.

Left-hander Tommy Milone limited the Royals to one run and five hits, while striking out five and walking two in six innings. Milone gave up a run and three hits in the third. Cain’s two-out single scored Rios.

Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie allowed two runs and six hits over 7 1-3 innings, throwing a season-high 110 pitches.

 

Trainer’s room

Twins: OF Shane Robinson was placed on the family emergency list to be with his 8-month-old daughter Harper in Boston after complications from esophagus surgery. Robinson is not anticipated to rejoin the team until Monday at the soonest. The Twins recalled Hicks from Triple-A Rochester, where he was on a rehab assignment. He went on the DL on June 13 with a strained right forearm.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (irritated ulnar nerve) threw about a 30-pitch bullpen session Friday. He will likely require another rehab start before coming off the DL.

 

Up next

Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey is winless in his past four starts with an 8.85 ERA. He yielded eight runs and nine hits in two innings Monday in a loss at Cincinnati, his shortest outing since May 21, 2013.

Royals: RHP Joe Blanton is 5-6 with a 4.50 ERA in 11 starts against Minnesota.

 

Colon sent down

INF Christian Colon, the fourth pick in the 2010 draft, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Manager Ned Yost said they want to get more playing for Colon, who had only 78 at-bats in the Royals’ first 76 games. The Royals promoted Coleman from Triple-A Omaha, where he hit .280 in 43 games.