KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Twins encountered a brief roadblock en route to another win over the Royals.

C.J. Cron homered and singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, and Minnesota beat Kansas City 5-3 on Saturday after blowing a 3-0 lead in the eighth.

“It was a good team win, for sure,” Cron said. “I just tried to drive the ball somewhere. (Wily Peralta) got me out last night with a slider down. This one was not down, fortunately. But that’s baseball. A foot more to the left and that’s a double play.”

Miguel Sano and Jake Cave also homered for the Twins. Eddie Rosario’s double to deep right off Peralta (2-3) scored Cave for a two-run cushion.

Trevor May (2-1) worked a scoreless ninth and Blake Parker retired the side in the 10th for his 10th save in 11 chances. AL Central-leading Minnesota has won two straight after losing four of its previous five.

Both starters had strong outings. The Twins’ Jose Berrios allowed two runs on five hits in seven efficient innings. He took a shutout into the eighth, when he allowed the first two runners to reach and was removed with a blister on his right ring finger.

“He was phenomenal in some tough conditions,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He went out and did what we needed. He went deep into the game without a ton of pitches. He did exactly what he wanted to do.

“Unfortunately, he had to deal with the blister. With the blister, it came out pretty good. It’s actually in a location that you wouldn’t normally associate with a troubling blister.”

Berrios didn’t think the blister would cause him to miss a start.

“It feels great,” he said. “I had a blister in the eighth inning. After the first hitter, I saw it and took it out. Then it started to burn. I’m good.”

Danny Duffy worked eight innings for the Royals, allowing three solo homers and three other hits, walking two and striking out four.

“The solo home runs got him,” manager Ned Yost said. “None of them were, like, extremely horrible pitches but they were all in their strengths. They weren’t, like, hanging breaking balls. They weren’t pitches up in the zone. But they were pitches to each individual hitter’s strength, and they ended up not missing them.”

In the 10th, Luis Arraez led off with a single and moved to second when Cave was hit by a pitch. Cron’s grounder eluded Hunter Dozier at third to put the Twins ahead.

Humberto Arteaga started the Royals’ rally in the eighth with his first major league hit, a single to right. He scored on Alex Gordon’s two-out double off Taylor Rogers, and Dozier tied it with a two-run single.

A baserunning gaffe by Whit Merrifield cost the Royals in the first. Gordon grounded to first with runners on first and third and none out, and Merrifield broke from third but then froze. Cron tagged out Gordon and got Merrifield in a rundown for a double play.

“C.J. is a defender who does a lot of very positive things for us,” Baldelli said. “He has a very instinctual player.”

Sano led off the second with a 454-foot blast to center, his ninth homer of the season.

Cave and Cron homered in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: OF Byron Buxton (right wrist contusion) took practice swings and threw on Friday and likely will be activated next week from the 10-day injured list, Baldelli said.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins RHP Blake Parker was reinstated from family medical leave on Saturday. His wife was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. To make room on the roster, RHP Kohl Stewart was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.

UP NEXT

Right-hander Michael Pineda (4-3, 4.76 ERA) will start for Minnesota in the final game of the four-game series against right-hander Homer Bailey (6-6, 4.82).

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced they’ve traded right-hander Ben Lively to the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations.

Lively was designated for assignment by the Royals on Thursday. He split time this season with the major league club and the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha.

Lively appeared in only one game for Kansas City this year, allowing three earned runs in one inning against the Los Angeles Angels on April 28.

The Diamondbacks said Lively was assigned to Triple-A Reno.

— ESPN —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Max Kepler’s RBI single drove in the tiebreaking run and Eddie Rosario added a run-scoring hit to cap Minnesota’s three-run rally in the eighth and the Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 8-7 Friday night.

Minnesota scored five runs in the last three innings to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season.

Ryne Harper (3-0) pitched one-plus inning to pick up the win despite allowing Jorge Soler’s 21st leadoff home run in the eighth that pulled the Royals back within one. Taylor Rogers got the last six outs for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Cheslor Cuthbert had three hits and four RBI — tying career highs in both — for the Royals, who have lost a major league-high 26 games in which they’ve held a lead. Kansas City has been outscored 177-125 after the sixth inning this season.

Trailing 6-3, the Twins pulled within one on Nelson Cruz’s two-run single in the seventh.

Miguel Sano started Minnesota’s rally in the eighth with a leadoff homer off Jake Diekman (0-5) to tie the score. Pinch-hitter Mitch Garver then walked and Jonathan Schoop singled. Max Kepler’s single to right drove in pinch-runner Willians Astudillo with the go-ahead run, with Schoop advancing to third and Kepler taking second on the throw. After Jorge Polanco and Cruz hit fielder’s choice grounders, Rosario singled to left to drive in Polanco to make it 8-6.

Royals starter Jakob Junis allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

Martin Perez gave up six runs — four earned — in five innings for the Twins.

The Royals scored three runs in the first inning for the second straight game. Cuthbert had an RBI double down the left-field line for the first run. With two outs, Humberto Arteaga rolled a grounder to short, but Polanco’s throw pulled first baseman C.J. Cron off the bag and Soler scored. Martin Maldonado singled against the shift to drive in Cuthbert to make it 3-0.

Cron led off the second with a 424-foot home run to center to get the Twins on the scoreboard.

Minnesota tied it in the fifth with two outs. Rosario’s single scored Schoop and sent Cruz to third. Rosario then stole second, and an errant throw by Maldonado allowed Cruz to score the tying run.

Cuthbert untied it in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run home run to give the Royals a 6-3 lead.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins C Garver came out of Thursday’s game with left heel soreness. He was not in the starting lineup Friday. “It was more of a precautionary removal last night,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He felt something and because he didn’t know what it was, he didn’t want to push himself in anyway. We wouldn’t want him to.” Garver entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins RHP Blake Parker is expected to return from the Family Medical Emergency Leave List on Saturday. His wife was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. “I’ve got a pregnant wife at the house,” Parker said. “There was a little bit of complications there, but everything seems to be back on track and good to go.”

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier was recalled from his rehab assignment Friday. He has been on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain since June 3 (retroactive to May 31). He played Monday through Wednesday at Double-A Northwest Arkansas before returning to Kansas City Thursday for the birth of his second child. His wife, Amanda, gave birth to a daughter named Blake. “It’s been a whirlwind. It’s definitely a blessing. We brought a little girl into the world, and Mom and baby are doing well. I didn’t get much sleep, but I feel good.” … In a corresponding move, the Royals optioned OF Jorge Bonifacio to Triple-A Omaha.

UP NEXT

RHP Jose Berrios (8-3, 2.86 ERA) will start for Minnesota. He’ll face Royals LHP Danny Duffy (3-3, 4.64 ERA) in the third game of the four-game series.

— Associated Press —