KANSAS CITY, MO -- Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson's dominating performance led to a 2-0 win over the division-leading Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Gibson allowed only four hits while striking out seven through eight shutout innings to improve his season record to 6-6 and lower his ERA to 3.04.

In a game with very little offense, Kansas City starter Chris Young allowed only one run in his five-plus innings -- an RBI triple by Danny Santana in the fifth inning to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Another RBI triple -- this one by Eduardo Escobar -- would give the Twins an insurance run and 2-0 lead in the ninth inning.

The headlining topic before the game was the Major League debut of Twins top prospect Miguel Sano. The 22-year-old known for his immense power potential smashed a line drive in his first plate at-bat -- directly at Royals centerfielder Lorenzo Cain for an out.

Ironically, a lightly-hit dribbler to third that the 260-pound slugger beat out was the first Major League hit for Sano in the ninth inning.

Minnesota closer Glen Perkins came on in the bottom of the ninth to slam the door for his 26th consecutive save (a Twins franchise record) to end the game.

With the win, the Twins improve to 42-37 and are now 3.5 games behind the first-place Royals.

Game two of the four-game weekend series is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Friday with Tommy Milone (4-1) taking the mound for the Twins against Jeremy Guthrie (6-5) and the Royals.

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