KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Hunter Dozier's bat returned to the Royals lineup, and it certainly hasn't hurt the guy hitting in front of him _ Alex Gordon.
Cleanup hitter Dozier homered and doubled while Gordon blasted a pair of doubles out of the No. 3 hole in the lineup.
The duo combined to drive in five of the team's six runs in a 6-1 win in the final game of a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins in front of an announced 21,257 who watched the Salute to the Negro Leagues game Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals wore Kansas City Monarchs throwback uniforms, while the Twins wore St. Paul Gophers threads.
The Royals (27-51) split their brief four-game homestand against the Twins and will hit the road for series against the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays to close the month of June.
Five consecutive one-out hits led to five runs in the third inning of what had been a scoreless game. Dozier provided the biggest hit of the inning and the game.
Billy Hamilton lined a single into center field with one out. Then, with Hamilton running on a 1-0 pitch, Whit Merrifield singled through the hole on the right side of the infield to put runners on the corners.
Nicky Lopez dropped a bunt single down towards the first that drove in the game's first run. Gordon followed with an RBI double, and Dozier smacked an 0-1 slider over the left field wall for a three-run home run _ his 12th of the season and his first since May 26 _ to give the Royals a 5-0 lead.
The Twins got a run back right at the start of the fourth inning when Eddie Rosario hooked a solo home run down the right field line and around the foul pole for his 20th home run of the year.
Rosario's homer snapped starting pitcher Homer Bailey's consecutive scoreless innings streak at 16 2/3 innings, which spanned two complete outings and went into a third.
Bailey limited the damage to one run, but he threw 30 pitches in the fourth and gave up two hits and a walk. Both catcher Martin Maldonado and pitching coach Cal Eldred made visits to the mound during the inning.
Bailey threw 108 pitches in 5 1/3 innings and allowed just one run on five hits and one walk. He struck out five, including Rosario to end a 14-pitch at-bat in the sixth.
Scott Barlow came on out of the bullpen and finished off the sixth without giving up a run. Brad Boxberger and Kevin McCarthy combined for a scoreless seventh, though Boxberger gave up a single and hit a batter. McCarthy also hit a batter to load the bases before an inning-ending fielder's choice.
Gordon added his second RBI double of the day in the seventh, and that gave the Royals a five-run advantage again.
McCarthy pitched 2 1/3 innings and earned his first career save.
