MINNEAPOLIS _ There were runners on first and third in the seventh inning on Sunday. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli sent pinch runner Ildemaro Vargas to third as a pinch runner for Alex Avila with Jorge Polanco coming to bat.
On a 1-1 pitch, Polanco squared around to bunt. Vargas took off for home and scored.
A safety squeeze. Anyone have that on their bingo card?
It provided a little more cushion in the Twins' 4-2 victory over a suddenly pesky Royals team. Kansas City clubbed solo home runs in the first and second innings off of righthander Randy Dobnak, but the Twins scrambled back and took the lead for good on Max Kepler's two-run home run in the fifth.
The Twins have won two of three games this weekend against the Royals and can win the four-game wraparound series with another victory on Monday.
These wins aren't coming easy, especially against a Royals team that lost 103 games last season. The Twins went 14-5 against Kansas City a year ago, but eight of those games were decided by one run. So the Royals have battled the Twins harder than their overall record suggests. When the Twins visited the Royals just over a week ago, they were swept in three games.
On Sunday, Hunter Dozier blasted a homer in the first inning and Alex Gordon, swinging on a 3-0 fastball, added a home run in the second to give the Royals an early lead. Dobnak found a groove later and pitched 51/3 innings.
Alex Avila scored in the third when he walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third when Royals righthander Brady Singer balked and scored on a groundout.
Avila walked again in the fifth but trotted home when Max Kepler broke an 0-for-11 skid with a two-run home run to right.
With a tight game entering the late innings, Polanco got the bunt down for an insurance run.
