Jorge Soler locked up the AL home run crown with his 48th, Brett Phillips drove a game-ending sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and Kansas City beat the Minnesota Twins 5-4 in manager Ned Yost’s final game.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli turned over coaching duties to infielder Ehire Adrianza, and AL Central-winning Minnesota hit three homers to push its major league record to 307 this season — one ahead of the New York Yankees.
Minnesota finished the season 101-61, one victory shy of the franchise record set in 1965.
Ian Kennedy (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth before the Royals rallied against rookie Brusdar Graterol (1-1). Humberto Arteaga led off with a double, and Nick Dini moved him to third with a bloop single, setting up Phillips’ fly to right that lifted the Royals to 59-103.
The Twins scored three runs in the first on back-to-back home runs by C.J. Cron —a two-run shot — and Jake Cave. It’s the 12th time this season the Twins have homered back-to-back. Jason Castro added a solo shot in the fifth.
