Kyle Gibson bounced back for a rocky start to shut down Kansas City, and the Minnesota Twins held on through a shaky ninth to beat James Shields and the Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Gibson (9-8) allowed only a single by Alcides Escobar in the third inning and another by Nori Aoki in the sixth over seven dazzling innings. He was at his best toward the end, too, setting down the Royals in order in the seventh on four seemingly effortless pitches.
Casey Fien worked the eighth before Glen Perkins ran into trouble in the ninth, giving up a leadoff double to Omar Infante and an RBI single to Eric Hosmer. Perkins bounced back to get three straight pop outs and record his 26th save of the season.
Josh Willingham hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning and Brian Dozier provided a run-scoring single in the fifth off Shields (9-6).
