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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez did what he always does after a Kansas City Royals victory, showering a teammate with Gatorade during television interview. Perez tripled in the tying run and scored two runs as the Kansas City Royals edged the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Friday night.
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Perez's triple off Kevin Jepsen scored Alex Gordon, who led off the eighth with a single, to tie the score at 3. Omar Infante's sacrifice fly scored Perez to put the Royals up.
But while Reymond Fuentes was being interviewed on the field after punching a two-run single in the second, Perez doused the unsuspecting rookie.
"I've heard of it and I've seen it a lot," Fuentes said. "I thought it was too cold for that, but I guess not. It was cold. I walked in the clubhouse and I still had ice down my pants. It wasn't fun."
Byung-Ho Park, who hit 105 home runs the past two years in Korea, hit his first big league home run in the eighth to give the Twins a short-lived 3-2 lead.
"Sometimes there isn't much you can do," Park said. "There's only so much you can control. As a part of the team, I feel like I'm somewhat responsible for the losing streak. I've got to take that, but tomorrow's a new day. Just got to come tomorrow and try to win the game."
Joakim Soria (1-0), who yielded the home run to Park, picked up the victory. Wade Davis picked up his second save, although he walked Brian Dozier to lead off the inning.
Yordano Ventura was removed after five-plus innings, walking six and striking out six. Kansas City Manager Ned Yost pulled Ventura after he walked Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano to begin the fifth.
"I thought he threw the ball really well," Yost said. "He got into the sixth inning and got a little fine. He had Mauer 0-and-2 and tried to make perfect pitches and walked the first two guys. Up to that point, I thought he threw the ball really, really well."
Luke Hochevar replaced Ventura and retired Trevor Plouffe on a fly ball to center, deep enough to get Mauer to second. After striking out Park, Eduardo Escobar's ground ball single to center scored Mauer to tie the score at 2.
The Royals loaded the bases in the seventh with Alcides Escobar's single and Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer drawing walks. Fernando Abad struck out Kendrys Morales looking to end the inning.
Sano struck out for the third time to end the Twins' seventh with two runners on base.
The Royals, who failed to score after Dozier's throwing error in the first inning, bunched three hits with two outs in the second for two runs.
Perez started the inning with a single to center and stopped at third on Omar Infante's double into the left-field corner. Fuentes laced a single to right, scoring both with his first hit for the Royals.
The Twins scored in the second when Ventura walked Escobar and yielded a run-producing double to Kurt Suzuki, who was out trying to advance to third.
Dozier snapped a 0-for-11 drought with a leadoff single in the first and Mauer walked, but Ventura struck out Sano and retired Plouffe to strand the runners.
Twins right-hander Ervin Santana started the opener on Monday at Baltimore but did not return after two innings and a 70-minute rain delay and was brought back on three days' rest.
Santana struck out Lorenzo Cain for the third time to end the fifth after Escobar and Moustakas singled.
"They don't give away at-bats," Santana said. "They're just trying to do damage, doesn't matter how, just trying to do damage. Just every time we face them we just have to be aware. They're good. They're good."
The Twins went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.
NOTES: Royals OF Jarrod Dyson, who strained his right oblique during his first at-bat in spring training, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday with Triple-A Omaha. ... Twins LF Eddie Rosario, who went 2-for-12 with six strikeouts in the Baltimore series, was not in the lineup. Danny Santana replaced him. ... Twins LHP Tommy Milone and Royals RHP Ian Kennedy are the Saturday probable starters. ... The Twins lost all three games at Baltimore, the third time in the past five years they have been swept in their season-opening series. ... 2B Brian Dozier, who went 0-for-11 against the Orioles, led off Friday's game with a single.
