Randy Dobnak walked back into Target Field and walked out with the best kind of revenge: seven scoreless innings against the team that once made him a playoff starter.
The right-hander, who was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers one year and one day earlier as part of a deadline sell-off, blanked Minnesota in the Royals’ 4-0 win Wednesday night. Dobnak gave up four hits and kept the Twins from ever finding a real opening, even with Minnesota driving eight balls at 100 mph or harder off the bat.
“The balls we hit hard, we hit right at people, (but) I think you have to give credit to Dobnak. He did a good job.
He put the ball on the plate,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We know he’s a ground-ball pitcher.
He had 10 or 11 ground-ball outs. Early on, didn’t put the ball on the ground, and then kind of locked in with his sinker and we just couldn’t get anything going.”
Dobnak’s path back to this stage has been anything but ordinary. He started this season in the minors with the Seattle Mariners, then landed in the Royals’ organization in June before getting called up at the start of July. Since then, he’s been throwing the ball as well as he has at any point in years.
After Wednesday’s outing, Dobnak owns a 1.04 ERA over five appearances, including three starts. That’s a sharp turn for a pitcher who made only six major league appearances across 2024 and 2025 for Minnesota.
The Royals didn’t need much offense because Joe Ryan never really settled in for the Twins. Minnesota’s All-Star starter was making his return after his last outing featured a franchise-record six home runs allowed to the Cleveland Guardians, and his scheduled start had already been pushed back from Sunday because of arm fatigue.
Ryan lasted six innings and gave up four runs, still trying to sort out what’s off.
“Started out feeling a little better. Probably the adrenaline felt good,” Ryan said.
“Tried to settle in, certain things are a little bit off still, so trying to figure it out. Arm felt good, so that was good.
But yeah, not putting the ball where I want to. Didn’t have the extra life that I was looking for today.
So, yeah, frustrating.”
Ryan said he was dealing with “just kind of battling some things” and added, “Just trying to figure out how I can get right.”
Kansas City got to him in a few different ways. Tyler Tolbert, the No. 9 hitter, homered in the third inning.
Ryan also gave up two runs in the fifth. And in the fourth, a defensive miscue helped the Royals extend things when Luke Keaschall couldn’t corral a ball that hit the outfield wall and ricocheted past him, turning it into a triple for Salvador Perez.
Perez later scored on a sacrifice fly for Kansas City’s second run.
The Royals improved to 46-63, while the Twins dropped to 54-55.
In Other News...
Twins Fans May Need To Rethink Marek Houston Fast
Marek Houston is starting to look like more than the athletic shortstop the Twins thought they were getting when they took him 16th overall. In Double-A, he has backed up the buzz with a .325 average and a 135 wRC+, and the early returns have only strengthened the case that Minnesota may have found a real piece for the middle infield. His game still rests on the traits that made him appealing in the first place, but the bat is giving the organization something extra to dream on.
Houstons rise also matters because the Twins have been searching for stability at shortstop, and a prospect who can help solve that spot carries obvious value. He is already drawing attention on top 100 lists, and the combination of athleticism, plate discipline and baserunning gives him a profile that can move quickly if the hit tool keeps holding up. For now, the bigger question is how soon the Twins can start planning around him as a real answer rather than just a promising one. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Morneau Just Reignited A Classic Twins Hat Debate
Hall of Fame weekend gave the Twins a chance to lean into a little nostalgia, and the classic M hats with the Hall of Fame patch fit the moment perfectly. The throwback look stood out because Minnesota usually rotates through other cap logos, which is part of why the old-school style still carries so much weight with longtime fans.
Justin Morneau noticed, too, and he made it clear on a broadcast that he liked the classic M lids. He even joked that he might get in trouble for saying it, which only added to the fun of a harmless uniform debate that never quite goes away in Minnesota. [Read more 🡒]
Kody Clemens Sends A Calm Message Twins Fans Need Right Now
Kody Clemens has quickly become one of the steadier voices in a Twins clubhouse trying to hold together a playoff push without much margin for error. Since arriving in April, he has given Minnesota a needed offensive spark and, more importantly, has sounded like a player comfortable with the pressure around him, stressing trust inside the room and a simple approach at the plate. For a team trying to stay competitive through uneven stretches, that kind of calm has mattered as much as the production.
The bigger issue is that the Twins cannot lean on one bat or one mood for long. Byron Buxtons absence has only sharpened the need for others to keep stringing together quality at-bats, while the bullpens inconsistency has made every late inning feel a little more fragile. If Minnesota is going to keep hanging around, the front office may have to help the roster survive the next stretch, because the current formula still looks too thin to carry all the way through. [Read more 🡒]