MINNEAPOLIS -- After setting a team record by scoring at least seven runs in six straight games last week, the Royals’ bats went quiet as they plated just eight runs during a three-game losing streak.

Turns out the bats were just resting. The offense came back with a vengeance on Wednesday, blasting three home runs against Twins starter Bailey Ober en route to a 6-1 victory at Target Field.

Nelson Velázquez had two of the homers, including a two-run shot that capped a four-run third inning. Salvador Perez added to his Target Field visitor home run record with his 22nd career blast in the Twins’ home park. And after being held to just five hits and two runs in Tuesday’s loss, the Royals were back in double figures with 10 hits on Wednesday.

“When you drive the ball out of the park, you get instant offense, you [put] instant runs on the board and you get out to a lead -- it really helps,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

As they did when they knocked out Ober (5-3) in the second inning back on March 31, the Royals got to the Twins’ starter early. Perez drove in a run in the third with a double off the wall in left. And one out later, Velázquez blasted a full-count pitch into the bullpens in left-center. The 437-foot blast gave the Royals a 4-1 lead.

In the fifth, Perez crushed a long home run that nearly landed in the same spot where Velázquez’s first homer went. That gave Perez 22 home runs (in 91 career games) at Target Field, the most of any visiting player.

“He’s just a great hitter, obviously,” Ober said. “Right now, if you throw anything two balls off the strike zone, he’s still hitting it, still putting it in play pretty hard. It’s almost like you plan to throw balls against that guy. And then he still can do some damage on it.”

Two batters later, Velázquez dealt Ober the final blow with a solo homer to left, his seventh on the season and fourth in his last seven games. Getting Velázquez back in his 2023 form, when he hit 14 homers for the Royals in just 40 games, would go a long way toward lengthening a lineup that has been top-heavy for much of the season.

“The top of the lineup right now is strong. Everyone is getting on base, they're getting RBIs,” Velázquez said. “There's some guys that maybe aren't hitting right now, but we all believe and we trust that they're doing what they have to do.”

Almost lost in the offensive outburst was the performance of Royals starter Seth Lugo, who recorded his AL-leading ninth win, a career high for the nine-year veteran. Lugo (9-1) also matched Philadelphia’s Ranger Suárez for the most wins in the Major Leagues this season. The right-hander tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

“I’d say I had to battle. They’ve got a bunch of good hitters in the lineup so I couldn’t really get to a part where I could just cruise,” Lugo said. “They made me work out there and they put together a lot of good at-bats. Being able to get six [despite] that, and [get] the ‘W’ feels great.”

Lugo’s dominance surfaced when he needed it most. In the first inning, the Twins got back-to-back singles with two outs. But Lugo struck out Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota’s home run leader, on a full-count slider to end the threat.

In the fourth, Lugo issued two walks, including a two-out free pass to Carlos Santana that brought the tying run to the plate in Jose Miranda, who already had five RBIs in the series. No problem -- Lugo fanned him on three pitches.

And with two runners on and one out in the fifth, Max Kepler and Lugo locked horns in an epic 12-pitch at-bat, which ended when Kepler froze on a sinker in the zone for the second out. Jeffers then flew out to end another threat.

“He knows how to pitch, he knows what he feels like, he knows who he feels like he can go after on certain nights,” Quatraro said of Lugo. “He did get big outs with guys on base, but that's what he's done for us all year."