KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Alex Prieto hit his first major league homer and Corey Koskie drove in three runs, leading the Minnesota Twins over the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Sunday.

Kyle Lohse (2-4) allowed three runs and nine hits in five-plus innings for his first victory in eight starts. Lohse’s only other victory this year was against the Royals on April 17.

Prieto, a rookie infielder, hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Jimmy Gobble (2-3) following an RBI single by Henry Blanco. The home run came in Prieto’s 37th career at-bat.

Lew Ford, who had a solo homer in the third, was hit by a pitch, and Koskie’s two-run single made it 6-0. Koskie added an RBI single in the ninth.

Minnesota, which lost the first two games of the series, avoided getting swept in Kansas City for the first time in 10 years. Still, at 12-15 this month the Twins are ensured of their first losing May in four years.

Gobble, a 22-year-old rookie left-hander, lost for the third time in four decisions, giving up six runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.

Matt Stairs hit an RBI double in the fourth for the Royals, and Benito Santiago homered leading off the fifth. Later in the inning, Mike Sweeney popped out with the bases loaded and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz dropped the ball in short right trying for a basket catch, but umpires already had called out Sweeney on the infield fly rule.

Mientkiewicz threw to first in an attempt to double up Carlos Beltran, but his throw hit the runner in the back. Desi Relaford scored as Blanco, the catcher, ran down the ball and threw to first, where right fielder Jacque Jones tagged out Beltran off the bag for the final out.

Matt LeCroy hit an RBI single in the seventh.

Notes: When the ball disappeared over the left-field fence on Ford’s home run, so did Relaford’s glove. It caught on the top of the 8-foot fence and slipped off his hand as Relaford jumped in an effort to make the catch in left. Play was halted a few minutes while a fan descended the steep, grassy slope to pick the glove up and toss it down to Relaford. … Michael Cuddyer had reached in eight consecutive plate appearances when he was retired on a fine running catch in right by Stairs in the first. … Scott Sullivan, struck out the first five batters he faced, all swinging. … The Royals had their first two runners on base in the sixth and the eighth but failed to score. … Tony Graffanino singled off Joe Nathan with one out in the ninth, the first hit Nathan allowed since May 7. Batters had been 0-for-26 against him since then.

AP-ES-05-30-04 1730EDT