To kick off Monday’s home opener in Kansas City, Austin Martin laced a single to left field off of Royals left-hander Kris Bubic. Leading off the top of the second, Matt Wallner crushed a left-on-left home run out to right field to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. And then the visitors’ bats vanished.
After the Wallner home run, the Twins didn’t record another hit until a one-out single by Brooks Lee in the eighth inning, which was immediately erased by a Trevor Larnach double-play grounder. Their offense was lifeless, filled with unsightly at-bats, and managed only four total hits in a 3-1 defeat that drops Minnesota to 1-3 on the season.
Between the Wallner and Lee hits, the Twins went 21 straight plate appearances with only two Martin walks and 19 outs, including six strikeouts and a ton of weak, non-threatening contact. They pitched reasonably well, but a pair of home runs from the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup were all the Royals needed to pick up a win in their first game of 2026 at Kauffman Stadium.
If there’s any consolation for Twins fans, it’s that this one was over in a brisk 2 hours and 14 minutes.
After his leadoff single to begin the game, Martin was picked off by Bubic while running on the first move. It was the latest out on the bases for the Twins, who had three of those on Sunday in Baltimore. Their only moment of excitement came when Wallner demolished a 424-foot homer to begin the second inning. It was an impressive blast, given that Bubic allowed just one home run in 102 plate appearances against lefties in an All-Star season in 2025.
But the Royals answered in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer from No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel off of Simeon Woods Richardson. That gave them a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. It was all the damage they did against Woods Richardson, who allowed five hits and one walk over five innings.
Kansas City tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Maple Grove, MN native Isaac Collins — hitting eighth on Monday — homered off of Twins reliever Kody Funderburk.
Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall combined to go 0 for 7 in this one. Josh Bell, Victor Caratini, and Royce Lewis were also held hitless. Bubic is a quality pitcher, but the Twins are going to need their offense to heat up quickly if they want to avoid falling into an early hole in the standings.
After an off day Tuesday, the Twins will be back in action in KC on Wednesday night, with ace Joe Ryan on the mound against another Royals lefty in Noah Cameron.
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