MINNEAPOLIS— Royals right-hander Chris Young flirted with a no-hitter, going 6 1/3 innings before Trevor Plouffe tripled off the right-field wall, and the Royals’ bullpen preserved a 2-0 win over the Twins on Tuesday night.

Young was in total command, needing just 83 pitches to set down the Twins. He walked three and struck out two to help Kansas City take a one-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central standings.

“He had a disappearing slider,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He mixed in some great changeups. There was a lot of easy outs. He just threw great.”

Young threw five no-hit innings in his first start of the season against Detroit on May 1. That combined no-hit attempt ended when reliever Kelvin Herrera gave up a hit in the eighth.

Asked how long he was prepared to go with Young in the game, Yost said, “It just depends. Until he had given up a hit.”

Even if Young had carried the no-hitter into the ninth?

“Oh yeah,” Yost said. “Yes.”

The Royals scored in the first inning on Mike Moustakas’ RBI single. Salvador Perez belted his ninth homer in the ninth.

Twins starter Trevor May went six innings, giving up seven hits and one run while striking out five.

“That’s a good result. It was just that it was tough for him,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He had to use that changeup -- I don’t know how many he threw tonight, but he threw a ton -- just because that was his best offspeed pitch. Fastball command, not great. Curveball command, not great. Not like we saw the last outing, but he kept competing.”