The Twins spent most of Thursday night in the same familiar spot: chasing, squeezing, and waiting for a hit that never seemed to arrive. Then the eighth inning changed everything.
Minnesota trailed 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium and had been stuck in a four-game skid after buying at the trade deadline, with the first two games of the series already gone. But the Twins put together a three-run eighth, Brooks Lee delivered the key swing again, and the bullpen held on for a 4-3 win over the Royals.
Bailey Ober made sure the game never got away from them. The right-hander was sharp from the start, needing only 26 pitches to get through the first two innings while allowing just one baserunner.
Kansas City broke through in the third with three straight two-out singles. Carter Jensen opened it with a hit, Bobby Witt Jr. followed with his second knock of the night and stole second, and Jac Caglianone hooked a two-strike changeup into right field for a two-run single.
After that, Ober settled right back in. He retired 11 of the final 13 hitters he faced and was efficient all night, reaching 63 pitches through five innings. The Royals added a run in the sixth when Witt doubled and later scored on Salvador Perez 's RBI ground ball that sneaked through the left side, but Ober still left Minnesota with a chance.
The offense finally gave him a little help in the fifth. For most of the night before that, the Twins had little going, even after Alan Roden 's leadoff double in the third went nowhere. Then Royce Lewis jumped on a 2-0 sinker from Michael Wacha and launched it 421 feet over the bullpen in left field for his 13th homer of the season, trimming the deficit to 2-1.
Minnesota had a chance to do more in that inning. Victor Caratini and Tristan Gray each walked, and Trevor Larnach reached on an infield single that deflected off Wacha’s glove to load the bases with two outs. Luke Keaschall couldn’t finish the job, flying out to center to end the threat.
That missed chance didn’t matter in the end because the Twins finally cashed in when it counted. Keaschall started the eighth with a single, Ryan Jeffers worked a gritty nine-pitch walk as a pinch hitter, and Josh Bell lined an RBI single to right to bring home Keaschall and move Jeffers to third. Kansas City turned to the bullpen, but Minnesota wasn’t done.
Lewis was hit by a two-strike pitch to load the bases, and Brooks Lee stepped in with the game on the line. He lined a single through the right side, scoring Jeffers and pinch-runner Alex Jackson to put the Twins in front 4-3.
The bullpen handled the rest. Kody Funderburk worked a scoreless seventh, Andrew Morris breezed through the middle of the Royals’ order in the eighth, striking out Carter Jensen before getting Witt Jr. and Caglianone on back-to-back ground balls.
Yoendrys Gómez took over in the ninth and had to navigate a little tension. Salvador Perez drew a leadoff walk, and Tyler Tolbert came in as the tying run on the bases. Gómez then picked Tolbert off first for a huge out, struck out Michael Massey after an eight-pitch battle, and froze Isaac Collins with a backdoor sweeper to finish it off.
After four straight losses and another slow offensive night, the Twins found the kind of win they badly needed. They got enough from Ober, enough from the bullpen, and just enough offense to stop the slide.
Next up is Milwaukee. The Twins open a three-game weekend series against the Brewers tomorrow night, with no starter announced yet for Minnesota. They’ll face left-hander Shane Drohan, and first pitch is set for 6:40 PM.
In Other News...
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Twins Fans Should Be Concerned About This Byron Buxton Update
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There is at least another health-related wrinkle on the roster with right-hander Zebby Matthews, whose recent start was affected by a right foot blister that tore and worsened as the outing went on. The encouraging part for Minnesota is that Matthews is not dealing with anything more serious, but the Twins are still waiting on clearer progress from Buxton, and that is the update with the bigger implications for how the club handles the days ahead. [Read more 🡒]