BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — Randy Dobnak pitched seven innings of four-hit shutout ball Wednesday and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 at Target Field.

Dobnak, making his third appearance of the season for the Royals, struck out four and did not walk a batter. He allowed only one runner to reach scoring position after the third inning. The right-hander retired the side in order in the first, second and seventh innings and induced ground-ball outs in the fifth and sixth to keep the Twins off the scoreboard. Dobnak was charged with four hits over seven innings and lowered his ERA to 0.00 for the season across 16 1/3 innings.

Tyler Tolbert opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning, a line drive to left-center field off Twins starter Joe Ryan. Tolbert finished 2 for 3 with a double and a walk, and his homer was his third of the season.

The Royals added a run in the fourth. Salvador Perez led off with a triple, his first of the year, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Loftin. Perez’s sharp fly ball to center field was misjudged by Luke Keaschall, allowing Perez to reach third. Loftin’s fly ball to center was deep enough to score Perez.

Kansas City broke the game open with two runs in the fifth. Josh Rojas singled sharply to right field, but Tolbert reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Rojas at second base. Carter Jensen then doubled down the left-field line to score Tolbert. Lane Thomas grounded out to third, moving Jensen to third, and Jac Caglianone singled on a ground ball to first baseman Royce Lewis to plate Jensen. The Royals led 4-0.

Dobnak worked through a threat in the fourth inning when the Twins put runners on first and second with two outs. Kody Clemens singled and Royce Lewis followed with a single to left, but Victor Caratini grounded out to first to end the inning.

The Royals’ pitching staff combined for 15 strikes, 51 balls and 15 balls in play, while the Twins’ staff threw 9 strikes, 41 balls and 9 balls in play. The game lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 18,728.

Steven Cruz pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Royals, and Daniel Lynch IV allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for Kansas City.

Ryan took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. The right-hander fell to 6-7 on the season.

Kendry Rojas pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the Twins, striking out four and allowing four hits.

The Royals outhit the Twins 12-5. Kansas City had at least one hit in every inning except the first, when Ryan struck out the side in order. Perez tripled and singled, drove in one run and scored one. Caglianone went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Loftin doubled and singled and drove in a run. Jensen doubled and knocked in a run.

For Minnesota, Ryan Kreidler doubled in the third inning for one of the team’s five hits. Austin Martin singled in the eighth, and Keaschall singled in the fifth. Clemens and Lewis each had singles. The Twins did not advance a runner past second base after the fourth inning.

The Royals improved to 46-63 with the win, while the Twins fell to 54-55.

Kansas City had lost the opener of this three-game series Tuesday 3-2. The Royals had won three of their previous four games overall, including a series victory with two wins against Detroit. The Twins had won their previous game Sunday against but had lost four of their last six.

The two teams play the final game of the series Thursday. Kansas City then travels to Colorado for a three-game set starting Friday, while Minnesota heads to Seattle for a three-game series beginning Friday.

The Interstat game simulator had projected a final score of Kansas City 6, Minnesota 5. The Interstat ELO system gave Minnesota a 54.60 percent probability to win. Minnesota was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of four stayed under the over/under line of 8.5.