Cron delivers in 10th to lift Twins over Royals

KANSAS CITY -- C.J. Cron was a clutch performer, both at the plate and in the field on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Thanks largely to Cron, the Twins were all smiles after a 5-3 victory in 10 innings over the Royals that again showed the resiliency of a Minnesota team that continues to flourish atop the American League Central.

• Box score

Starter Jose Berrios held the Royals scoreless until the eighth, when he exited with a right ring finger blister with two on and no out. The Twins surrendered their 3-0 lead in that frame and went into extra innings, but Cron delivered a game-winning RBI single in the 10th off Wily Peralta that put Minnesota in a happy frame of mind at the end of a hot and exhausting day.

Cron finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and his 17th homer, which he launched two batters after Jake Cave’s first big fly of the season. In the 10th, Cron pulled a Peralta pitch through the hole on the left side and gave Minnesota the lead for good.

“A foot more to my left, and it’s a double play,” Cron said. “I’m just fortunate it got through.”

It has been a joyful past couple of days for Cron. He participated in a comeback victory on Friday, and he also learned that he had made the cut for the All-Star Game Starters Election among AL first basemen. Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario -- who added an RBI double in the 10th to pad the lead -- are also finalists.

“It’s cool and very humbling,” Cron said. “With that many people voting for me (1,045,120), it’s pretty special.”

Cron showed exactly why he’s deserving of the recognition on Saturday. While the offense was much-needed, there was a defensive play that he made in the first inning that was just as important.

The Royals had runners at first and third with nobody out when Alex Gordon hit a slow bouncer to Cron. The Minnesota first baseman was able to charge hard for the ball and tag Gordon while keeping an eye on Whit Merrifield, who had come down the line at third.

Merrifield made a belated break for the plate, and Cron was able to get the ball to catcher Willians Astudillo, who was able to trap Merrifield in a rundown for an unorthodox double play.

“Whit sort of broke home, but he didn’t fully commit,” Cron said. “It gave me time to charge the ball. If he had broke back to third, I would have just thrown to third and not even worried about the tag. But it worked out where I was able to make the tag and get the ball into Willians’ hands.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli credited Cron’s instincts for changing the complexion of that inning.

“C.J. is a good defender, and he does it very naturally,” Baldelli said. “You have to have instincts to make a decision like that and see everything. Not every player has that.”

Worth noting

• With his third-inning single, Polanco extended his on-base streak to 35 games on Saturday. It’s the longest on-base streak in the Majors since Luke Voit reached in 42 straight from Sept. 19, 2018-May 3, 2019. It’s the longest for a Twins player since Joe Mauer’s team-record 43-game streak from Aug. 7-Sept. 24, 2015.

• Miguel Sanó homered for the second straight day in the second inning, bringing his 2019 big fly total to nine.