BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — The Kansas City Royals rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Minnesota Twins 8-6 on Thursday night at Target Field, snapping a three-game losing streak and ending Minnesota’s two-game winning streak.

Kansas City improved to 25-38, while Minnesota fell to 29-35 in front of an announced crowd of 17,802. The game lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

Royals starter Seth Lugo worked five innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts. He left with the game tied at 5. The Royals bullpen combined for four innings of one-run ball, with Matt Strahm (2-1) earning the win with a scoreless seventh inning. Alex Lange recorded his second save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out one.

Twins starter Mike Paredes went 3 2/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on two hits while striking out one. Taylor Rogers (1-3) took the loss after surrendering two runs in the ninth.

Both teams scored in each of the first two innings. Kansas City struck first in the top of the first. Bobby Witt Jr. singled, moved to third on a walk to Vinnie Pasquantino and scored on Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly to right. Minnesota answered immediately in the bottom half when Byron Buxton led off with his 18th home run of the season, a solo shot to center field.

In the second, Kansas City loaded the bases with three consecutive singles from Michael Massey, Nick Loftin and Kyle Isbel. But Carter Jensen popped out and Witt grounded into a forceout at home, and Pasquantino struck out to end the threat. Minnesota tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the second when Victor Caratini doubled to center, scoring Luke Keaschall.

The Twins took a 3-2 lead in the third on Kody Clemens’ seventh home run of the year, a solo shot to center. Kansas City tied it in the fourth when Massey led off with his sixth home run, a drive to right field.

Minnesota regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Trevor Larnach singled, and Ryan Kreidler tripled to center field, with left fielder Isaac Collins unable to cleanly field the ball. Larnach scored to make it 4-3. Clemens then led off the fifth with his second homer of the game, his eighth of the season, extending the lead to 5-3.

The Royals answered in the sixth with a three-run outburst. Isbel singled, and Jensen doubled to left, scoring Isbel and Collins. Jensen advanced to third on the play and scored when Witt reached on a fielding error by shortstop Ryan Kreidler, giving Kansas City a 6-5 lead. But Minnesota tied it again in the bottom of the sixth when Caratini hit a solo home run, his third of the season, making it 6-6.

The score remained tied until the ninth. With one out, Salvador Perez singled off Rogers. Pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert moved to second when Lane Thomas singled. Collins sacrificed the runners to second and third. After a walk to Maikel Garcia loaded the bases, Josh Rojas singled to center, driving in Tolbert and Thomas to put the Royals ahead 8-6. Kansas City then loaded the bases again on a walk to Isbel, but Jensen and Witt struck out to end the inning.

Minnesota attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Caratini singled to lead off, but Tristan Gray flied out. After a forceout erased Caratini, Buxton walked to put the tying run on base. But Brooks Lee grounded out to second to end the game.

In addition to Clemens’ two home runs and Caratini’s homer and double, Buxton finished 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. Massey went 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI for Kansas City. Witt finished 1 for 4 with a walk and scored twice.

The Royals finished with 12 hits, while the Twins had nine.

Kansas City had lost three straight entering the game, including a 5-2 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. Minnesota had won two in a row after dropping three of four to Pittsburgh.

The two teams continue their four-game series Friday, with the Royals sending left-hander Daniel Lynch IV to the mound against Twins right-hander Yoendrys Gómez. Kansas City then returns home to face Texas on Tuesday, while Minnesota travels to Detroit for a three-game set.

In a series earlier this season, Kansas City took two of three at home against Minnesota, winning 3-1 and 13-9 before dropping the finale 5-1 on April 2.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3. Interstat’s ELO system had given Minnesota a 51.00 percent probability to win. Kansas City was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 14 runs went under the over/under line of 9.