Sano's late homer sparks mighty Twins' offense

KANSAS CITY -- When Miguel Sanó came to the plate in the eighth inning, he was mired in an 0-for-18 skid with 15 strikeouts. But it just takes one powerful connection off Sano’s bat to change the narrative entirely.

Sano went from slump-ridden hitter to hero on Friday night when he launched a projected 420-foot homer to right-center off Jake Diekman that tied the game and provided a springboard for the Twins’ 8-7 comeback victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Manager Rocco Baldelli had talked on Thursday about how the Twins are willing to live with some Sano strikeouts because of what he can do when the barrel of his bat meets the ball. The feast-or-famine scenario played out just as Baldelli had visualized when Sano came up after three previous strikeouts and tied the score at 6 with one swing.

• Box score

“It was a huge pick-me-up for our whole team,” Baldelli said. “It takes one swing for him to change the game, and that’s exactly what it was tonight. This is the hitter that he is. When the ball leaves a right-handed hitter’s bat, it generally does not take off the way it takes off for him. It’s very unique and he can do that at any moment.”

Trailing, 3-0, and, 6-3, at various stages, the Twins seemed totally rejuvenated after Sano’s homer. Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario added RBI singles in the eighth to push Minnesota ahead by two and the Twins held on from there with left-hander Taylor Rogers providing an excellent relief outing.

“The first couple of at-bats, I struggled,” Sano said. “But I never put my head down. I stay positive always. [In the eighth], I said, ‘I need to do something here.’”

“Things didn’t go totally smoothly, especially early,” Baldelli added. “But our guys kept plugging away and having good at-bats. We could point to many of our players coming through at different moments. Our guys are resilient.”

Rosario’s two-out RBI single through an open left side in the eighth proved to be the game-winning hit.

“I think they are trying to work me outside this series and I’m just trying to make the adjustment,” Rosario said through an interpreter.

Jorge Soler’s homer brought Kansas City within 8-7 in the eighth and Rogers had to work around a muffed fly ball by right fielder Willians Astudillo with one out in the ninth.