twins/mlb

Final Score: Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3 (10 innings)

Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Denard Span's double in the bottom of the 10th inning brought home the winning run for the Twins, as Minnesota salvaged the final game of a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, winning 4-3.

Trevor Plouffe tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer, his 21st of the season. Glen Perkins (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

Francisley Bueno (1-1) was saddled with the loss. He came out to start the bottom of the 10th and gave up a leadoff double to Alexi Casilla before giving up Span's game-winner.

"It's something that you have to build on, we're a team that wants to finish strong," said Plouffe. "We don't want to go out losing a bunch of games."

Kansas City scored twice in the first inning. Alcides Escobar singled and advanced to second after Twins starting pitcher Liam Hendriks walked Alex Gordon. Billy Butler grounded out to third to move the runners over and Perez singled up the middle to drive both runners home. With the base hit, he extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

The Twins got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Josh Willingham hit a solo homer in the first to cut the Royals' lead in half.

Kansas City starter Luis Mendoza pitched effectively and allowed just a single run. He tossed six solid frames - fanning six - and did not give up a hit over his final five innings of work.

The Royals built their lead back up to two when David Lough led the top of the fifth off with his first career triple. After Hendriks struck out Gordon, Butler doubled to deep center field to plate Lough, giving the Royals a 3-1 lead.

Before Plouffe's game tying homer in the ninth, the Twins drew within one in the eighth. Drew Butera was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on pinch-hitter Chris Parmelee's base hit through the right side. Span hit into a force out at second, putting runners on the corners before Ben Revere drew a walk to load the bases. Willingham came to bat and Royals manager Ned Yost summoned Greg Holland from the bullpen.

"Holland had to get a four out save and he ended up walking Willingham," said Yost. "He then got a fastball up to Plouffe that tied it up."

Perkins allowed a one-out double to Gordon in the top of the tenth. Butler came to the plate. He took a second strike and argued the call with the umpire, which got him tossed from the game. Tony Pena finished his at-bat and struck out on the first pitch he saw. Perkins then got Mike Moustakas to ground out after to end the inning.

Game Notes

Hendriks lasted five innings for the Twins. He allowed three runs on seven hits, while striking out two and walking three ... He is just the fifth pitcher since 1920 to fail to win a game in his first 17 Major League starts ... Escobar extended his hitting streak to nine games ... Royals' Lorenzo Cain left the game in the bottom of the 10th inning with a leg injury after attempting a diving catch on Casilla's double.