Gallo blasts 2 homers, Twins sweep Royals with 7-4 win

WCCO digital headlines: Morning of April 2, 2023

Joey Gallo hit two home runs, Joe Ryan gave up one run over six innings and the Minnesota Twins completed a sweep of Kansas City 7-4 on Sunday.

Gallo hit his first home run of the game in the sixth inning and in the next frame belted a three-run blast over the right field bullpen to extend the Twins' lead to 6-1. It was his 16th career multi-homer game.

The Minnesota Twins' Joey Gallo celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Sunday, April 2, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Reed Hoffmann / AP

After failing to score in the first two games of the season, the Royals finally got a run in the second inning off a home run by Edward Olivares. The long ball broke a 19-inning scoreless streak — the team's longest drought to start a season in franchise history.

The run came off Joe Ryan (1-0), but that was his only blemish. Ryan went six innings, struck out six and allowed one earned run, three hits, two walks. Brad Keller (0-1) threw 4 ⅔ innings giving up two earned runs, five hits, four walks and fanned six.

In his first start as a Royal, Matt Duffy hit a two-run homer to left field into the fountains, but it wasn't enough for Kansas City.

The Twins swept their opening series for the first time since 2017, when they also did it against Kansas City.

SLOW SOPHOMORE STARTS

The Kansas City trio of MJ Melendez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino are a combined 1-for-28 with 10 strikeouts to start their second-year campaigns.

UP NEXT

Twins: Send RHP Tyler Mahle to the mound Monday as they continue their road trip in Miami, where they'll faceRHP Johnny Cueto.

Royals: Kansas City goes with RHP Brady Singer when they host Toronto and RHP Jose Berrios on Monday to start a four-game set.

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