Prince Night at Target Field included some back-and-forth scoring, some back-and-forth circus baseball, and a rain delay. If the production crew didn’t play Purple Rain during the delay, then they should be fired. Seth Lugo faced off for the Kansas City Royals against the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen to start off this contest.
Everything kicked off right away in the first inning. After striking out the first batter, opener Andrew Morris allowed a single to phenom Bobby Witt Jr, who promptly stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and touched home on a Salvador Perez sac fly to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Byron Buxton welcomed Lugo back to Minneapolis with a Buck Truck shot to the Minnesota bullpen in left-center field and evened up the score.
Morris was sent back out for the second frame and was greeted with three straight singles to load the bags before an out was recorded. With one out, Witt Jr hit a grounder to Kody Clemens at first base and threw home to cut down the runner for the second out. Great, right? Nope! Another wild pitch by Morris allowed Nick Loftin to score and give K. C. a 2-1 lead. Morris escaped without any more damage and Minnesota countered again in the bottom of the second with a Victor Caratini double, bringing Luke Keaschall in to knot the game again at two runs apiece.
Mike Paredes was called into duty for the Twins and sent down the Royals batters in order in the top of the third. The Twins then took the lead for the first time in the game courtesy of a Clemens home run – a shot to right-center above the out-of-town scoreboard. The 3-2 lead was short-lived as Paredes served up a first-pitch four-seam meatball to Michael Massey, who served it back and deposited it into The Dock in right field to tie the baby up once again in the top of the fourth.
The circus baseball commenced in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and Trevor Larnach on first, Ryan Kreidler hit a triple to the gap in left-center. Left fielder Isaac Collins slid feet-first to try and stop the ball, but ended up kicking it further towards center field. Kyle Isbel chased the ball to the wall while Larnach motored around third base and scored to give the Twins a 4-3 lead. After a mostly-quiet top of the fifth, Minnesota added on courtesy of a Clemens home run – a shot to right field, this time just feet on the good side of the foul pole – his second of the game.
The 5-3 Twins lead was short-lived once again as Paredes issues a walk to lead off the sixth. Two outs and a single later, skipper Derek Shelton brought in Anthony Banda, who has been doing quite fine as of late. He reverted back to his old ways, allowing his first batter to slap a double to left field, driving in two runs to tie the game. The circus baseball vibes flowed again as Witt Jr popped one up behind second base. Kreidler backpedaled… backpedaled… and backpedaled… right into Keaschall and the ball dropped, allowing the third run of the inning to score and give the Royals the lead … again.
Merriam-Webster defines “rain” as: water falling in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere. This happened at Target Field, resulting in an hour and seven minute delay of the game.
Those 67 minutes just delayed the game from being tied once again. With two outs, Victor Caratini took a John Schreiber fastball beyond the wall in right field, tying the baby up once again, this time at six runs each after the sixth. The bullpens traded goose eggs the next two innings.
The top of the ninth is when the game went back to the Royals’ favor. Single, single, sac bunt against Taylor Rogers, who was pulled in favor of Justin Lawrence. Walk, single, walk, strikeout, strikeout give K. C. a two-run lead. Although Minnesota didn’t go down without a fight – a Caratini single, Orlando Arcia legging out a single on a force-out, and Buxton walk – Alex Lange sent the Twins home.
W: Matt Strahm (2-1)
L: Taylor Rogers (1-3)
S: Alex Lange (2)
- Kody Clemens: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
- Victor Caratini: 3-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
- Byron Buxton: 2-4, HR, BB, R, RBI
- Taylor Rogers: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER
- Justin Lawrence: 0.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 inherited runners scored
Comment of the Game Thread
The Twins and Royals continue this four-game series tomorrow night with a 715p Central first pitch, “presented by Apple TV.” Kansas City will send Michael Wacha to the mound while Minnesota counters with Zebby Matthews. Thank you to those who were able to join the game thread tonight, and thanks for reading!
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.twinkietown.com ’
