KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Twins were optimistic that J.A. Happ rediscovered his command of the strike zone last week, the touch that limited opponents to just six runs in his first five starts of the season.
After giving up six runs Friday night, the search apparently isn't over.
Happ gave up nine hits, five of them for extra bases, and squandered the three-run lead that Twins staked him to. The Royals finally chased him in the fifth inning, and Kansas City ended a nine-game losing streak by beating the Twins, 7-4, their fourth loss in a row.
Salvador Perez, who owns the record for most career homers by a visiting player Target Field, this time victimized Minnesota at Kauffman Stadium, pulling a 3-2 high-and-outside fastball into the seats down the right-field line, his 28th career home run against the Twins. And Royals second baseman Hansel Alberto, who had not homered since last September, golfed a low slider into the Twins bullpen in the third inning, a two-run shot that gave the Royals their first lead.
It wasn't just the homers that hampered Happ, though. A string of hard-hit balls kept the Royals adding more runs to their total. Doubles by Alberto and Michael A. Taylor, sandwiched around a sharp single by Hunter Dozier and a fielding error by left fielder Trevor Larnach, produced a couple more runs in the second inning, tying the score.
And three straight hits in the fifth inning, the last an RBI single by Carlos Santana, ended Happ's night after recording just 13 outs.
It had to be disappointing for manager Rocco Baldelli, who expressed confidence before the game that Happ had bounced back from a rough six weeks.
"He obviously started out great this season, throwing the ball exactly the way he would draw it up. Then he was in the middle of the [strike] zone for a few starts," Baldelli said. "I don't think he had the feel he was looking for, but he's been around this game for a long time. He's gotten to this point by making adjustments, and he's been doing that."
The Twins handed Happ a three-run lead before he took the mound, with Luis Arraez and Josh Donaldson opening the game with back-to-back doubles off Royals right-hander Brady Singer. Arraez misread Donaldson's long fly ball and held up at third, but both players scored moments later when Singer fielded Larnach's dribbler in front of the plate and threw it past Perez.
Larnach took second, then scored when Alex Kirilloff singled him home.
It marked the sixth time in the Twins' past seven games, and ninth in the past 13, that they scored in the first inning. But the Twins have had trouble holding those leads; they are only 5-3 in this stretch when scoring in the first frame.
Down three runs in the sixth inning, the Twins loaded the bases with no outs, but they managed only one run when Arraez grounded into a double play and never scored again.
