Paulo Orlando, Salvador Perez stay hot in Royals’ 10-4 win over Twins

Three months before the Royals’ 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night at Target Field, Paulo Orlando sauntered into a tattoo parlor near his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It was February, the final days before he would depart for spring training in Arizona, and Orlando sought a piece of art to commemorate his first offseason as a major-league baseball player.

Orlando wanted something that would honor his love for baseball, but as he sat down in a chair in the shop, he had no specific ideas. His friend, the tattoo artist, suggested an image of Orlando swinging a bat, and together they found a photo on the Internet from one of Orlando’s first games.

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Three months later, the art is still there, outlined in dark black ink, a forever tribute on Orlando’s left shoulder.

Orlando smiles when the tattoo is brought up. In truth, he just wanted something to remind him of the 10 seasons he spent toiling in the minor leagues. He also wanted something that would motivate him to keep going.

Three months later, Orlando is still here, an offensive catalyst for the surging Royals, a sudden hit machine who collected three more hits and two more RBIs in Monday’s rain-delayed victory.

On the day the Royals lost starting left fielder Alex Gordon to a scaphoid fracture in his right wrist that could keep him out four weeks, the club’s other corner outfielder continued his blazing May.

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“He’s been hot, man,” Royals manager Ned Yost said after the game. “He’s really swinging the bat well. Just keep riding it.”

Orlando led an offensive onslaught on a rainy night in downtown Minneapolis. The Royals beat up on the worst team in the American League. As the offense piled up a season-high 10 runs on 17 hits, Salvador Perez had a career-high five of them, becoming the first Royal with five hits in one game since Billy Butler on Sept. 5, 2013. Perez finished with a double, triple and three singles. His mind drifted toward a possible cycle in his final at-bat.

“A little bit,” he said.

Perez settled for one final single, and yet he is not the hottest batter in his own lineup. In his last seven games, Orlando is now 15 of 26 with nine RBIs, raising his season batting average to .400 (26 for 65). The Royals have procured six wins in eight games during the stretch, moving to 23-21 after a series-opening victory at Target Field.

“It’s a long season,” Perez said. “Sometimes, it’s going to be a struggle. Sometimes, it’s going to be like tonight.”

In other words, sometimes second baseman Omar Infante will tack on three RBIs while driving a baseball off the left-field wall in the ninth inning. Sometimes, Whit Merrifield will make his first career start at third base and finish 2 for 5 with two runs scored.

“Merrifield had a great day,” Yost said. “Paulo had a great day. But they didn’t have the great day that Salvy did – five hits. He just really does a good job at this park. His slugging percentage numbers are astronomical in this park.”

Merrifield, who made his major-league debut last Wednesday, was in the lineup while starting third baseman Mike Moustakas nursed a right knee contusion. Behind the dugout sat his 86-year-old grandpa Bill, who had followed the team from Chicago to Minnesota, after driving from his home in North Carolina to see his grandson play in Chicago over the weekend.

“He’s a trouper,” Merrifield said before the game.

The night’s only true drama came during a 41-minute rain delay, which began in the bottom of the third inning. The Royals led 6-2 after putting up four runs in the top of the third, but as the delay began, Yost was busy checking the weather radar in his office, hoping that the skies would clear so that the game could become official.

“There was a cell over us, and I thought we could play through it,” Yost said. “And there was a window behind us, and I thought we could play at least an hour after the delay. I thought, ‘Well, that at least gets us through the fifth.’ ”

The rainstorm forced the tarp out onto the field. It also shortened the night of Royals starter Ian Kennedy, who lasted just four outs after the delay and allowed two runs and five hits in 3  1/3 innings. Kennedy finished the night at 73 pitches. That total didn’t include some extra throws in the cage during the delay. Teams rarely send a pitcher back out to the mound after a 45-minute rain delay, but after 41 minutes, Kennedy was ready to go back out.

“It was kind of like that borderline,” he said. “Where you keep watching me, keep making sure that everything’s all right. You just got to be cautious.”

The rest of the night belonged to the Royals’ bullpen. Left-hander Scott Alexander allowed a run in 1  2/3 innings. Peter Moylan picked up his first win of the season after working 2  1/3 innings.

After taking two of three from the first-place White Sox in Chicago, the Royals can win their fourth straight series with a victory here tonight.

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When the day began, the Twins, 11-33, had won just 11 times in 43 games. Their record was the worst in baseball. Their run differential (-74) was the worst in the American League by 22 runs. A season ago, the Twins won 83 games and were in contention for a wild-card spot deep into September. This year, the wheels fell off before May 1.

The Royals, along with the rest of the AL Central, could be a primary beneficiary of the Twins’ porous play. Dating back to last season, Kansas City has won 13 of its last 17 games against Minnesota. The two teams will meet 15 more times this season, starting tonight at Target Field. Orlando and the surging Royals have two more games to stay hot in Minnesota.

“We needed that, especially with this rain delay,” Yost said. “I was trying to do everything I could do to stay away from (Kelvin) Herrera, (Joakim) Soria and Hoch (Luke Hochevar). You try to build up a lead and that enabled us to go in another direction.”

Royals 10, Twins 4

E—A.Escobar (7), Suzuki (3). LOB—Kansas City 8, Minnesota 9. 2B—A.Escobar (6), Merrifield (1), Cain (4), Perez (10), Infante (9), Grossman (2). 3B—Perez (2). HR—Mauer (3), off Kennedy. RBIs—Cain (23), Morales (18), Perez (22), Orlando 2 (10), Infante 3 (9), Dyson 2 (6), Mauer (12), Grossman (4), E.Escobar (7). SB—Orlando (2), Dyson (8), Santana (10). SF—Orlando, Infante.

Runners left in scoring position—Kansas City 7 (A.Escobar 3, Morales, Infante, Dyson 2);Minnesota 4 (Mauer, E.Escobar 2, Santana). RISP—Kansas City 7 for 19;Minnesota 3 for 12.

Runners moved up—Plouffe, Suzuki. GIDP—Hosmer, Sano, Park, Suzuki.

DP—Kansas City 3 (Alexander, Infante, Hosmer), (Merrifield, Infante, Hosmer), (A.Escobar, Hosmer);Minnesota 1 (Rogers, E.Escobar, Mauer).

Alexander pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

Inherited runners-scored—Moylan 2-1, Herrera 2-0, May 2-0. HBP—Kennedy (Park).

Umpires—Home, Alan Porter;First, Mark Carlson;Second, Jeff Kellogg;Third, John Tumpane.

T—3:29. A—17,886 (39,021).

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Paulo Orlando, Salvador Perez stay hot in Royals’ 10-4 win over Twins."