Plate umpire Mark Ripperger overruled the initial call of a fair ball — and a groundout — by third base umpire James Hoye, giving Nelson Cruz another chance to be a hero.

He followed through with a go-ahead single to give Minnesota a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Cruz’s clutch single of Brad Boxberger (0-1) gave him three RBIs, and it gave the Twins a reason to be happy after outfielder Byron Buxton left with bruised ribs and the club left 14 runners on base.

Trevor Hildenberger (1-0) got the final out of the ninth inning for Minnesota, and Blake Parker worked around a two-out walk in the 10th to earn his first save.