MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Martín Maldonado found a formal-yet-fun way to honor the dads in his life.
The Royals catcher celebrated Father's Day by wearing a blue necktie on his chest protector and had three hits to lift Kansas City over the Minnesota Twins 8-6 Sunday.
Maldonado scribbled the names of his dad, brother, family and close friends on the tie, along with "Happy Father's Day" at the bottom. Pittsburgh Pirates backstop Elias Diaz wore the same tie in a game against Atlanta, which was provided by equipment manufacturer All-Star.
"Just wanted to do something different for the fathers out there, family members, friends," Maldonado said. "Something to wear for them."
Maldonado was all business at the plate. He drove in two runs, one with a single during a three-run second inning and another with a double in the eighth.
Jorge López (1-6) pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief, giving up four hits, including a solo homer by Nelson Cruz in the seventh.
Ian Kennedy allowed an RBI double by Max Kepler but struck out Cruz with two runners on to record his seventh save in nine chances. Cruz believed he had checked his swing on the strikeout.
"The check swing calls are, honestly, some of the more difficult calls you're going to see in the game," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Obviously, we didn't like the call, but I find them challenging. It was probably close but something we would prefer to go our way based on everything we saw. But it happens."
Jorge Bonifacio added two hits and two RBIs for the Royals, who had lost three of four. Kansas City was tied or leading in the eighth inning in three of the previous four matchups against the Twins this season but had lost all four games before hanging on Sunday.
"We've been right there in every game with them, a hit away really," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Finally, to get over little bit of a hump and get a win with them, especially on getaway day was good."
Martín Pérez (7-3) surrendered five runs — four earned — in 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota. Kepler had four hits and Miguel Sanó homered, but the Twins left the bases loaded three times and were 4 of 18 with runners in scoring position.
Cruz had a two-run double in the eighth, but Wily Peralta entered and retired three in a row to strand two runners.
"The biggest thing is that we're in first place," Sanó said. "We can lose one game if we're going to win five, seven games. This is the best team I've seen in my life, and we don't have any pressure about anything. We're really good."
