Jason Vargas shuts down Twins as Royals win 3-1

Ned Yost met with Jason Vargas as Monday’s seventh inning began and assessed the status of his starter. Vargas needed only 70 pitches to complete six scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory over Minneapolis, but as he prepared for another frame, he admitted his energy was flagging.

“How are you feeling?” Yost asked.

“I’m OK,” Vargas told him, “but I’m starting to feel it a little bit.”

Yost did not hesitate. His Royals held a two-run lead, and Yost strove to protect it. He cracked open the Kansas City bullpen for the final nine outs to hold off the Twins. Ryan Madson yielded a solo home run in the seventh, but Eric Hosmer responded with an RBI single in the eighth. Wade Davis and Greg Holland bullied the opposing hitters in the final two frames.

The formula felt familiar, a callback to the style the Royals (32-23) employed so often in 2014. The group returned to their roots as they look to emerge from their first protracted funk of this season. They won back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday, the first time the club achieved the feat since May 22 and 23.

“For us to come in here and win a tight ballgame,” Vargas said, “and play good, aggressive baseball is huge for us.”

Vargas (5-2, 4.10 ERA) absorbed a line drive in the groin, but otherwise emerged unscathed at the hands of the Twins, who entered the day leading Kansas City by a game in the American League Central. Vargas impressed Yost with his efficiency and flooded the zone. He pumped first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 22 batters he faced.

After Madson surrendered the seventh-inning home run to outfielder Eddie Rosario, the Twins hit a pair of singles. Madson recovered to fan second baseman Brian Dozier with a changeup for the inning’s third out.

The Royals could not afford mistakes on the mound. The offense is still in a lull. Kendrys Morales bashed a two-run shot in the second inning. Otherwise the bats were quiet. Phil Hughes silenced them across 7.2 innings, until Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain cracked two-out singles in the eighth.

Hughes departed the diamond, and Hosmer sparred with southpaw reliever Aaron Thompson. Hosmer offered at a knee-high fastball. His second hit of the game granted the Royals their third run and added insurance for Holland and Davis.

“It’s good feeling going out there when you’re up two,” Hosmer said. “Especially with (Holland). It gives him the ability to throw his pitches freely, and not be perfect with all his spots. It’s a big run.”

A pocket of Kansas City fans parked along the third-base line at Target Field erupted when Hosmer’s hit rolled into right field. The crowd witnessed the Royals regain ground as they faced an unlikely division leader.

The Twins zoomed to a 20-7 record in May and wrested control of the American League Central from the Royals. With Detroit fading, the White Sox stagnant and Cleveland still gathering steam, these two clubs will battle for first place this week.

“We’re treating it as a big series in here,” Hosmer said. “This is a team that’s at the top of the division right now. We know they’re playing good baseball. That’s how seasons work: When a team’s hot and another team’s going through a scuffle, if we come and win a series here, it can get us going.”

The Royals threw their only haymaker in the second inning. Hosmer dumped a cutter into left field for a leadoff single. As he gathered himself at first base, Morales came to the plate. Morales spent an unhappy 39-game stint with the Twins last summer. He did not hit a homer at this ballpark.

Here in 2015, as a member of the Royals, Morales has already gone deep twice at Target Field. His second occurred five pitches into his at-bat with Twins starter Phil Hughes. Morales crushed a 91-mph fastball. The baseball clanged off the second deck in right field.

“That was huge,” Yost said.

Minnesota mounted a comeback in the third with paper cuts. Eddie Rosario bounced a curve up the middle that deflected off Vargas’ glove. Two batters later, outfielder Aaron Hicks hooked a grounder that bounced off third base and past Mike Moustakas. An infield single from Brian Dozier filled up the bases with only one out.

The pressure was mounting on Vargas. To the plate strode Torii Hunter, the 39-year-old veteran. Kansas City tabbed Hunter as their top target this past offseason, hoping they could benefit from his ageless, right-handed swing and nearly two decades of experience.

Instead Hunter opted for a swansong with Minnesota, the club that drafted him in 1993. As the Twins surged into contention last month, members of the organization pointed to the guidance of Hunter, and his steady hitting, as one of their touchstones.

Hunter can be an overzealous hitter, walking less and less as he ages. Vargas capitalized on Hunter’s aggression. Hoping for one out but willing to accept two, Vargas spotted a changeup low and away. Hunter could not help himself. He smashed a grounder at Alcides Escobar, who turned the rally-killing double play with Omar Infante.

“He forces you to make adjustments,” Vargas said. “We were definitely hoping to get him to swing at that first pitch. It just happened to go our way, this time.”

Two innings later, Vargas weathered a body blow. Literally.

With a runner at first, Hicks smacked a line drive toward the mound. Vargas deflected the ball but it still caught him “where you don’t want to get hit,” he said.

Vargas needed about a minute to recover. At last he shooed away the trainers and resumed pitching. He considered himself lucky that his glove caught a piece of the baseball.

“I was definitely glad,” Vargas said, “that I’m standing up right now.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Jason Vargas shuts down Twins as Royals win 3-1."