Randy Dobnak picks up first win in 5 years as Royals beat Twins 4-0

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Randy Dobnak pitched seven scoreless innings for his first major league victory in five years as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 on Wednesday night.

Dobnak (1-0) gave up four hits and a walk while striking out four. He had three 1-2-3 innings and no runner advanced past second base.

Dobnak hadn't won a game in the big leagues since May 21, 2021, when he was with the Twins. He made 21 starts for Minnesota between 2019 and 2021, then spent most of the next four seasons pitching for Triple-A St. Paul before the Twins sent him to Detroit at last year's trade deadline.

Tyler Tolbert doubled and homered and Salvador Perez had two hits, including his first triple since 2022.

Twins starter Joe Ryan (6-7), pitching for the first time since he tied a major league record by allowing six home runs in a loss to the Guardians on July 20, allowed four runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts over six innings.

Ryan's turn in the rotation was pushed back due to arm fatigue

Tolbert led off the third inning with a line drive that carried into the bullpen in left-center to open the scoring.

The Royals doubled their lead in the fourth when Perez tripled and scored on Nick Loftin's sacrifice fly. Kansas City made it 4-0 in the fifth as Carter Jensen's double and Jac Caglianone's base hit each drove in a run.

Minnesota RHP Bailey Ober (7-3, 4.56 ERA) was set to start on Thursday against LHP Noah Cameron (5-8, 4.93) in the series finale.

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Kansas City Royals' Tyler Tolbert, right, scores on a double by Carter Jensen as Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) awaits the throw in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Kansas City Royals right fielder Tyler Tolbert, right, forces out Minnesota Twins' Luke Keaschall (15) but cannot turn the double play on a fielder's choice by Ryan Kreidler in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan throws to the Kansas City Royals in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez advances to third base from first on a single by Michael Massey against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Randy Dobnak throws to the Minnesota Twins in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Kyle Manzardo homered and drove in two runs, Joey Cantillo pitched four scoreless innings and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 Wednesday night to claim the season series from their in-state rivals.

The Guardians, who took two of the three games from the Reds at Progressive Field in May, earned this year's “Ohio Cup,” which is awarded to the winner of the season's series.

Cantillo allowed four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. He leads the majors with a .189 opponents' average with runners in scoring position and worked out of jams in the first, second, and fourth innings on Wednesday.

The Guardians, who had been shut out in three of the previous four games, loaded the bases with one out in the third, but failed to score. They loaded the bases again with no outs in the fifth and scored four runs despite having only one hit.

Travis Bazzana singled and drove in the first run off Reds starter Brady Singer, who issued a pair of bases-loaded walks to force in two more runs. Caleb Ferguson replaced Singer and allowed Patrick Bailey's sacrifice fly to make the score 4-0.

Singer (5-10) allowed four runs — all unearned — and six hits. He walked four and struck out three. The Reds committed two errors on Wednesday, including a fielding error by Elly De La Cruz which began the four-run fifth.

Erik Sabrowski (4-2) earned the victory for Cleveland.

Noelvi Marte drove home the Reds' only run with a single off Franco Aleman in the sixth.

Manzardo's home run, his 13th of the season and second in as many games, came off Chase Petty leading off the seventh, making the score 5-1. It was his fourth homer against the Reds this season.

Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (4-10, 3.89) is scheduled to start Friday against the visiting Diamondbacks.

Reds RHP Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.61) is scheduled to start Thursday against the visiting Pirates.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Cleveland Guardians' Joey Cantillo pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)

Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan hits a single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)

Cincinnati Reds' Brady Singer pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)

Cleveland Guardians' Joey Cantillo pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)