Twins 5, Royals 3: Move Over Royce, the Twins Have a New Savior – Twins

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: José Ureña: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (73 Pitches, 36 Strikes, 49.3%)
Home Runs: Ryan Fitzgerald (1), Luke Keaschall (2)
Top 3 WPA: Michael Tonkin (.619), Keaschall (.429), Pierson Ohl (.224)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

Well, the team has been showing positive flashes lately, and it’s definitely due to my own prognosis. Or, maybe it’s just Luke Keaschall, who had (ahem) a pretty decent game.

The Twins finished up the series against Kansas City today, going for a second straight series win against a team ahead of them in the AL Central standings. I was at Friday’s game and witnessed more key RBI hits than occurred in all of 2024. Alas, yesterday, Noah Cameron shut them down, which was a reminder that they are still going to struggle against lefties in the absences of Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Willi Castro and Harrison Bader.

It looked like they might be facing a huge early deficit with José Ureña on the mound. He allowed a leadoff walk to Mike Yastrzemski, followed by a sharp single to Maikel García. Fortunately, Vinnie Pasquantino then scorched a ball to Kody Clemens at first, who recorded the out and stepped on first for a crushing double play. Especially crushing because a walk and a single would follow. All in all, just the one run would score.

The second inning looked even bleaker for the Twins and Ureña, who walked the first two hitters he saw. Kyle Isbel then bunted the runners over, bringing up the top of the lineup. Yastrzemski hit a sharp line drive… right to Luke Keaschall at second base. Ureña then fooled García with a weird, screwball-type pitch to set him down looking and end the inning.

The Royals countered with a much more impressive arm, Ryan Bergert, whom they acquired from the Padres by trading away one of the heirs apparent to Salvador Perez, Freddy Fermin. Bergert has a couple of nice pitches, but stalled in the high minors before the Padres gave him a look in a swing role. He excelled in that capacity, with a 2.78 ERA over 35 innings, and shut down Boston over 5 2/3 innings in his Royals debut, allowing just two hits and two runs.

Bergert made quick work of the Twins in the first two innings, showcasing an impressive changeup-slider combo, but committed the cardinal sin of walking Mickey Gasper to begin the third. That brought up Ryan Fitzgerald, still looking for his first big-league hit, and he capitalized, crushing a cement-mixer slider into the flower beds in right field for a two-run home run and giving the Twins the lead.

Ureña was done after three innings, throwing a whopping 73 pitches and walking four batters. Any gambler knows to quit while you’re ahead, and Ureña leaving with a lead was nothing short of a miracle. Kody Funderburk threw a scoreless fourth inning and gave way to Pierson Ohl in the fifth, who pitched 2 2/3 uneventful, scoreless innings of his own. It should be noted that the Royals were sitting Bobby Witt Jr., and without him, this offense is just a wannabe Whitey Herzog team: fast, contact-oriented, lousy.

Meanwhile, Bergert was racking up strikeouts (eight in total) with exceptional command and efficiency. He had Twins hitters playing defense, working the edges with his fastball and then mixing in the changeup and slider to great effect. Keaschall and Jeffers, two of the better two-strike hitters on the team, were both fooled by changeups right down the middle for strikeouts. He would exit after 5 2/3 innings, and looks like a steal for Kansas City—without factoring in the other pitcher the Royals got in the Fermin deal, Stephen Kolek, who also figures to contribute at the back half of the rotation in the near future.

Now the Twins got to a scenario we were all worried about: a slim lead in the late innings. Ohl began the seventh inning with two quick outs, and was relieved by Cole Sands. García singled, though, and Pasquantino then launched a two-strike curveball to flip the game.

The Twins had an opportunity to answer back in the eighth. With one out, Austin Martin hit a sinking liner that scooted under the glove of left fielder John Rave and ended up as a triple. Kody Clemens hit a pop-up, not quite deep enough to score Martin, and things looked bleak. Fortunately, Jeffers was up next, and the hot-hitting catcher roped a single to left to tie the game against Royals relief ace Lucas Erceg.

The ninth began innocently enough, with Justin Topa retiring Isbel and Yastrzemski on called strikes. The relentlessly troublesome García doubled, however, and Pasquantino was put on intentionally. Certainly, Perez was ready to punish them for such a decision—but he was hit by a pitch, bringing up Adam Frazier, who already had collected four hits to that point. Frazier was all over the next Topa sweeper, but lined out to deep right field. Crisis: averted.

The Twins went down in six pitches in their half of the ninth, so it would be an extra-inning affair. The Twins called on Michael Tonkin, and he was effective, inducing a groundout that didn’t advance the runner from Jonathan India, striking out Rave and working around a walk to pinch-hitter Nick Loftin by getting Isbel to pop out to end the inning.

Gasper began the home 10th by drawing a 3-0 count. He tried to bunt on each of the next three pitches, and was unsuccessful each time. The Twins would also go scoreless, pushing the contest to 11 frames.

That’s fine, because Tonkin was made for extra innings, apparently. He would strike out Perez to end the top half of that inning scoreless, as well. He’s been shelved most of the year by injuries, but when right, he’s a rubber-armed multi-use reliever.

In a sentence I didn’t think I would ever utter, number two hitter Kody Clemens was walked to bring up number three hitter Ryan Jeffers to begin the bottom of the 11th. It started well, as Jeffers went ahead 3-0. Eventually, Jeffers would fly out, but Manfred Man Martin did not tag immediately, and was thrown out trying to advance to third. Things weren’t looking good, with Martin walking off the field even though the Twins (unsuccessfully) challenged the call.

Never fear; Luke Keaschall hits fourth now. He launched a Carlos Estévez fastball over the big wall in right-center field for a walk-off home run. This team has juice, if nothing else, and there truly may be nothing else.

Stray Observations:

-This was Mickey Gasper’s first game starting behind the plate, and the first time anyone besides Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vázquez has started there since 2022. Needless to say, Gasper does not possess much of a throwing arm, allowing two early steals. He didn’t miss any balls and his framing looked decent, however.

-In the eighth, following Jeffers’s tying hit, Royce Lewis (out of the lineup to begin the day) was in the on-deck circle. However, the batter at the time, Keaschall, popped out to end the inning. The next inning, Edouard Julien got the at-bat instead. I suppose it makes sense, as you would prefer Julien to begin an inning and Lewis to finish one, but with Julien struggling, it was eyebrow-raising, especially once Lewis was used as a pinch-runner for Brooks Lee in the 10th.

Postgame Interviews:

Coming soon

What’s Next:

Zebby Matthews (3-3, 5.17 ERA) takes on Will Warren (6-5, 4.44 ERA) as the Twins take their yearly sojourn to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have had some of the same issues as the Twins these past few years (put pressure on the other team? Nah, look how optimized my swing is), but thanks to Aaron Judge in the regular season and Giancarlo Stanton in the playoffs, their results have looked a bit better. 

Bullpen Usage Chart: