KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 8 (UPI) -- Alcides Escobar delivered a go-ahead, run-scoring double Monday, keying an eighth-inning rally that sent Kansas City past Minnesota 3-1 in its home opener.
Trailing 1-0 since the first inning, the Royals finally reached Twins starter Kevin Correia (0-1) in the eighth, when Lorenzo Cain led off with a double and went to third on a Chris Getz sacrifice.
Alex Gordon followed with a sharp single to tie game and later came around to score the lead run when the next batter, Escobar, drove a pitch into the right-field corner for a two-bagger.
Jared Burton relieved and unleashed a wild pitch, sending Escobar to third, and Billy Butler capped the rally with a bloop RBI single.
Ervin Santana (1-1) earned the victory with eight innings of one-run ball, in which he worked around eight hits while walking one and striking out seven.
Aaron Crow collected his first save with a scoreless ninth.
Correia ended up yielding three runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 frames.
Ryan Doumit provided the Twins' only RBI.