MINNEAPOLIS _ He had just 24 hours to prepare for his first career start, enough time to make the 381-mile journey from his season home in Omaha, Neb., to downtown Minneapolis.
On Sunday morning, Jake Junis arrived inside the visitors clubhouse at Target Field and received a welcome from left-hander Danny Duffy. A few hours later, Junis delivered a timely spot start in the first game of a traditional doubleheader.
In a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, Junis allowed two earned runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. On a chilly afternoon in Minnesota, the cameo set the tone as the Royals shook off sixth straight losses against the Twins and notched their first victory over their division rival.
The Royals (18-24) stroked four homers, including two from designated hitter Brandon Moss. The display of power offered support to Junis and the bullpen, which allowed two runs across 4 1/3 innings.
Salvador Perez opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the top of the second, his ninth of the season and 12th career homer at Target Field. Perez tied the record for most homers at Target Field by an opposing player.
Jorge Bonifacio and Brandon Moss stretched the lead to 5-0 with back-to-back homers off Twins starter Phil Hughes in the top of the fourth. Bonifacio clubbed a two-run shot 421 feet into the bullpen in left-center field, while Moss yanked a 368-foot solo shot to deep right.
Junis, meanwhile, worked three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fourth inning. Twins third baseman Miguel Sano walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Max Kepler ripped a single to right, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. But Kennys Vargas, who clubbed a game-tying homer in the ninth Friday, hit into a double play on a hit-and-run, popping out softly to shortstop Alcides Escobar.
The Twins scratched across two runs against the Royals' bullpen on a two-run double by Sano in the seventh. But Moss clubbed his second homer of the day into the upper deck in the eighth, pushing the lead back to 6-4.
Escobar set a club record with his 213th straight start, surpassing the mark held by third baseman Paul Schaal. Kelvin Herrera notched a save in the ninth. Two days after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth and losing 4-3 in 10 innings, the Royals opened a doubleheader with a victory.
