Eric Hosmer got his first hit seven hours after the first pitch. It was the biggest one of the night.
Hosmer’s single in the 11th inning drove in Cheslor Cuthbert with the winning run to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
The Royals have won six straight, matching a season high, and got their eighth walk-off victory.
There was a 3-hour, 3-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth, plus a 12-minute delay when some of the lights went out in the bottom of the sixth.
”That was a long day,” Hosmer said. ”With the delay, with the lights, you throw all that stuff in there, it’s definitely one of the longer ones I’ve been a part of.”
Cuthbert led off the 11th with an infield single against J.T. Chargois (0-1), the sixth Twins pitcher. Lorenzo Cain then walked before Hosmer’s game-winning hit. Hosmer drove a full-count fastball to right.
”Pretty much the whole night I’ve been seeing a lot of off-speed stuff,” Hosmer said. ”I had just told myself that at-bat, show bunt early. If they get behind in the count and it’s a fastball count, then we’ll swing it.”
Chien-Ming Wang (6-0) allowed one single in two innings. Six Royals relievers allowed one hit, walked four and struck out seven in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
”You’re here this long, you’ve got to win it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”The bullpen was fantastic, again. Everybody rose to the occasion.”
Alex Gordon, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games, and Alcides Escobar singled with one-out in the 10th. However, Raul Mondesi struck out and Jarrod Dyson grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
Brian Dozier homered in the third, going deep in seven consecutive games he’s started against the Royals. He becomes the fourth player in history to homer in seven straight games against one opponent and the first since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1994 against the Texas Rangers. It was Dozier’s 28th home run, matching his season high set last season.
”Everything feels good,” Dozier said. ”I got a good pitch to hit, worked the count, stood on a few breaking balls in the dirt and got a fastball right in the middle.”
Twins rookie starter Jose Berrios gave up a run-scoring single to Escobar and walked Dyson and Cuthbert with the bases loaded in the second.
Berrios gave up four runs and five hits with four walks and a hit batter over four innings, throwing only 41 strikes in 77 pitches.
Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez took a 4-1 lead into the fifth, but gave up three runs before the tarp was brought out. Eddie Rosario and Juan Centeno hit successive doubles to lead off the inning for the first run. Jorge Polancio’s two-run double tied it before the delay.
Dyson’s single in the fourth scored Gordon.
The Twins loaded the bases with three walks in the seventh, but came away empty.