Twins Blow Ninth-Inning Lead to Royals, Royce Lewis Makes Return at Second Base

Royce Lewis returned to the lineup on Saturday, but Byron Buxton was out due to injury. The makeshift Twins blew a ninth-inning lead to lose to the Royals 3-2 at Target Field on Saturday. Here’s what you missed.

Buxton was out of the lineup after colliding with the wall on Friday night, and the Twins had another collision on Saturday. Trevor Larnach and Ryan Kreidler smashed into each other in the outfield on a fly ball, but they were both able to finish out the game.

Joe Ryan started on the mound for the 14th time this season. Minnesota’s veteran RHP allowed six hits and one earned run, while striking out five batters in 6.0 innings of work. The Twins’ bats were not able to take advantage of a solid outing from one of their best pitchers.

Carter Jensen was the only Royals player to score on Ryan with a leadoff home run in the first inning. The Twins tied the game up in the fifth inning when Tristan Gray hit a sacrafice fly to drive in Austin Martin.

Orlando Arcia hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning, which was his first of the season. He pinch hit for Trevor Larnach, and the move looked brilliant from Derek Shelton and his staff.

Taylor Rogers relieved Ryan, and he was relieved by Yoendrys Gomez in the eighth inning, who finished with 0.2 innings of scoreless work. It was Eric Orze in the bottom of the ninth inning, who allowed two hits and two runs to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead.

Minnesota did its best to muster up some magic in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Kansas City was able to hold on and hand the Twins a 3-2 loss. They’re now 30-36 on the season, and they will wrap up the current series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT at Target Field.

The biggest news of Saturday’s game might’ve been the return of Lewis, who played 13 games with Triple-A St. Paul. He played second base twice during the 2024 season, and Saturday was his second time starting at the position with the Twins. He went 0-2 with one walk on the afternoon, and he batted seventh.

Minnesota appears to have avoided disaster with Buxton, and they’ll look to have a full lineup going forward with Lewis back in the majors. They will have a much-needed off day on Monday before wrapping up the Royals series on Sunday.