Dean Kremer gave the Twins exactly the kind of first impression they needed. The offense around him, though, never gave him much margin for error, and Minnesota walked out of Kauffman Stadium with a 2-1 loss to the Royals on Monday night.
Kremer, making his Twins debut after arriving from the Baltimore Orioles with a 6.50 ERA, worked five solid innings and exited with the score tied 1-1. He allowed a run and navigated a bases-loaded jam before handing the game over. That set up a night in which the Twins’ new-look pitching staff mostly did its job, but the lineup again came up short.
The turning point came in the seventh, when left-hander A.J. Minter gave up the go-ahead run on a long solo homer by Michael Massey.
Minter, one of the four pitchers Minnesota added near the trade deadline, said, “You can’t get behind 2-0,” Minter said, one of four pitchers the Twins added near the trade deadline. “You get behind 2-0, these hitters are going to make you pay.
I came in the strike zone, and the pitch was definitely middle-middle. I wish I could take one pitch back.”
Minnesota’s best chance to crack Noah Cameron came in the fourth, when the Twins loaded the bases with no outs and still managed only a run on a Victor Caratini double play. After that, Cameron slammed the door. He allowed just two hits, struck out eight and finished by punching out the final five Twins he faced.
It was another sharp outing against Minnesota for Cameron, who also shut them down last Thursday at Target Field with one hit, two walks and seven strikeouts over eight innings. This time, he mixed six different pitches, including two fastballs, and kept the Twins off balance all night.
“He mixes up both fastballs, so he keeps you off the barrel there,” Clemens said. “And a majority of his pitches aren’t over the middle of the plate.
“I mean, it’s pretty tough when you know you’re on certain pitches, and he executes a different one in a different part of the zone where you’re not looking.”
Kody Clemens had been around long enough to recognize the setup. The Twins had found themselves in a similar spot against Cameron just last week, only that night ended with Clemens delivering a grand slam and a wild comeback.
This time, there was no late magic. Steven Cruz shut the door in the ninth, and Clemens went down looking on a 100-mph four-seam fastball on the inside corner to end it.
Clemens said he “wasn’t trying to go hit a home run,” and added that the club wasn’t pressing through the recent stretch of quiet offense.
“Our offense has been really good all year,” Clemens said of the Twins, who were still ninth in the league in runs scored as action played out Wednesday night. “Obviously, it hasn’t been what it’s looked like the past couple games, but that’s baseball.”
The defeat was Minnesota’s fourth in a row, and it dropped the Twins to 4-8 against Kansas City this season. The Royals, who are 19 games under .500 overall, have one more meeting with Minnesota on Thursday night. Bailey Ober is set to start for the Twins against Michael Wacha.
There was at least one encouraging sign beyond Kremer’s debut. Royce Lewis extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a bunt single, and he has now reached base by hit or walk in 16 straight, a career best. Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach also turned in strong defensive plays in the outfield to save extra bases.
The night also carried some concern on the pitching side. Joe Ryan was sent back to Minneapolis to meet with team doctor Chris Camp about soreness in his back and glutes, and his next scheduled start Sunday may not happen as planned.
Even with that uncertainty, the Twins can at least point to a debut that looked composed and competitive. Kremer did his part. Minnesota just didn’t do enough with the rest of the game.
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