KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first time he was presented with an opportunity to break open Saturday’s game, Christian Vázquez was unable to come through.

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) catches a fly ball for the out on Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

But he more than made up for it in the later innings of Saturday’s game, both offensively and defensively, helping lift the Twins to a 5-1 win against the Kansas City Royals.

Vázquez, who bounced into a double play with the bases loaded to end the Twins’ seventh-inning threat, got some redemption an inning later. Locked in a 1-1 game, he received a pitch from Griffin Jax and threw a dart down to shortstop Carlos Correa. The throw led Correa into Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., allowing the shortstop to lay down a tag and neutralize the threat.

Correa, on his back, then repeatedly pounded his glove, applauding his teammate. It was a big moment, only upstaged by yet another one the next inning.

Up again with runners on base, Vázquez this time delivered, singling home Ryan Jeffers to give the Twins the lead for good.

The Twins followed that up by tacking on three more runs to help push the game out of reach, the first on an Alex Kirilloff sacrifice fly and the second two on Byron Buxton’s second double of the day.

The first double, a ball Buxton chopped over third baseman Maikel Garcia’s head, brought home Edouard Julien, to tie the game up in the eighth inning. Buxton then turned on the jets, getting an extra base on what looked like a routine single to left.

The late offense came in a game that the Twins were held quiet for much of. Royals starter Seth Lugo threw six scoreless frames against the Twins, limiting them to just two hits.

He was matched for much of the day by Twins starter Joe Ryan, who gave his team everything it could have asked for in his first start of the season.

Ryan breezed through three perfect innings to start the game, successfully extricating himself from a two-on, one-out situation an inning later and allowed just three hits in his 5 1/3-inning effort.

But the last one, which came after a pitch clock violation was called against him to move the count to 2-0, was the one that came around to score. Witt Jr. doubled on the very next pitch. He was the last batter Ryan faced in his start as the Twins then turned it over to lefty Steven Okert.

Okert retired the first batter he faced before the Twins opted to intentionally walk catcher Salvador Perez. The very next batter, MJ Melendez, gave the Royals a lead in the sixth inning that they held until the Twins broke through two innings later.

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