KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson is glad he does not have to face teammate Miguel Sano.

Sano homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Friday night.

"Miggy is swinging the bat well," Gibson said. "He's a tough hitter to face. You hope you can get ahead and not use your best pitch and somehow avoid the pitch he's looking for."

The Royals have lost eight straight games. The last time they had a longer losing streak was April 2012, when they lost 12 in a row.

Sano's two-run double off Joakim Soria (0-1) tied it in the ninth. Joe Mauer followed with a two-run double to put the Twins up.

"He was a huge part of our offense tonight with the two big swings he had," Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Sano. "When Miggy is going good he's going to hit the ball to left, right, center. That's a good sign when he hits one (out) to the opposite field like that."

The eighth inning included an Eddie Rosario single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Rosario's single struck Whit Merrifield in the glove, but he was unable to handle it.

"When it's a full-speed, forehand like that, if it doesn't hit you in the web, chances of catching it are not very good," Merrifield said. "Unfortunately, it didn't go in my glove, but it's definitely a play I should make."

Right fielder Jorge Bonifacio dropped Max Kepler's liner, making one of the runs unearned.

"When it came off the bat, I saw the ball pretty good," Bonifacio said. "It was in the light. I just try to keep the ball in front of me, not past me back there.

"Yeah, I lost that one. Once in the lights I lost it. I just tried to keep the ball in front of me. We were on top there. After that, the bases were loaded. I was hoping, like, ground ball there, and Sano hit a double and I was more frustrated, a little bit more there. After that, they got on top."

Craig Breslow (1-0) got the victory, retiring the only batter he faced in the eighth inning.

Brandon Kintzler worked the ninth to pick up his sixth save.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy gave up two hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings for a no-decision.

Gibson yielded three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings.

"That's my goal every time out, to keep my team in the game," Gibson said.

Brandon Moss hit a solo homer in the seventh for Kansas City.

Kennedy retired the first 10 Twins he faced before walking Kepler in the fourth. Next Sano worked the count full before homering into the Twins' bullpen, cutting the Royals' lead to 3-2. Sano was 0-for-10 off Kennedy before the blast.

"Fastball, kind of leaked back over the plate too much," Kennedy said of the home run. "It's more impressive that he hit it out that deep to right. He's a big, strong guy. I think there's a questionable call there, earlier in that at-bat."

Salvador Perez gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the second when he drove a 2-1 Gibson pitch over the left-field fence, landing in the Kansas City bullpen. Eric Hosmer started the inning with a walk and was aboard for Perez's sixth home run of the season.

The Royals made it 3-0 in the third with singles by Merrifield, Mike Moustakas and Hosmer. In Kennedy's last three starts, the Royals scored a total of three runs.

The Royals threatened in the fifth when Bonifacio walked and Lorenzo Cain singled. Hosmer grounded to first baseman Mauer to end the inning.

It was only the second time in 10 games the Royals scored more than two runs in a game.

NOTES: The Twins put LHP Hector Santiago on the bereavement list after his grandmother's death. They recalled LHP Buddy Boshers from Triple-A Rochester. ... The Royals hit .152 (5-for-33) with runners in scoring position on their just concluded 0-7 trip. ... Twins 2B Brian Dozier went 0-for-5. He is 1-for-his-last-23 at Kauffman Stadium.