(Minneapolis) Édouard Julien hit a solo homer as pinch-hitter, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 8-4 on Monday night.

Julien, the Quebec rookie on second base replaced Kyle Farmer in the top of the eighth inning and sent the first pitch he saw from Royals reliever Taylor Clarke for a home run to right field. It was Julien’s first hit as a pinch hitter and the fifth homer of his career.

Carlos Correa hit four leadoff hitters and Byron Buxton drove in two runs on sacrifice fly for the Twins, who beat the Royals for the seventh time in eight games this season.

Clarke (1-3) gave up five runs on five hits and struck out just one of the seven batters he faced.

Royals rookie Maikel Garcia hit the trails four times and hit Joe Ryan’s first pitch of the game for a home run. The Royals, who had won back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Dodgers, have lost 11 of their last 12 games to the Twins.