KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Byron Buxton returned to center field for the first time since 2022, pitcher Pablo López turned in a gem and Twins used a pair of insurance runs to pull away late to win on Opening Day.

But the excitement and enthusiasm of the Twins’ 4-1 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was dampened by the sights of third baseman Royce Lewis limping as he reached third base in the third inning and Max Kepler grimacing in pain after fouling a ball off his leg.

Both the youngster and the veteran were forced to leave early in a painful win for the Twins (1-0).

Lewis has looked every bit the star in the making during the limited time he has been on the field over the past couple of seasons. But the early part of his career has been marred by injuries. The Twins saw both things on Thursday.

The third baseman kicked off the Twins’ new season with a first-inning home run off Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans. Lewis added a single in his second at-bat of the day.

But as he was running to third base in the third inning on Carlos Correa’s double — which scored Manuel Margot to give the Twins the lead back for good — Lewis pulled up in pain. After a visit from manager Rocco Baldelli and athletic trainer Nick Paparesta, he exited the game with what the Twins have described as right quad injury.

Kepler, who fouled the pitch off his right leg, initially stayed in after a visit from a team trainer but did not return to right field to play defense in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Their injuries overshadowed a strong start by López, who talked of setting the tone for the season during his Opening Day start and did exactly as he set out to do on Thursday.

The only mark against López was a leadoff home run to Maikel Garcia, which tied the score at the time. He followed by throwing seven scoreless innings in which he struck out seven. After Lopez retired the first batter of the seventh inning, Baldelli ambled out to speak with López, but he opted to leave the starter in and the Twins’ ace rewarded his manager’s faith in him by getting the next two batters out.

The Twins then turned the game over to reliever Brock Stewart, who got through a scoreless eighth inning, before pulling away late with one run on a wild pitch and another on Correa’s third hit of the day, this one an infield single that allowed Buxton to race home.

Relief pitcher Griffin Jax, in Jhoan Duran’s absence, then came in and slammed the door on the Twins’ first win of the season.

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