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Close and late situations are not the friend of the 2026 Minnesota Twins.<\/p>\n
After a leadoff homer made it 1-0 Royals, Joe Ryan<\/a> settled down for six innings of one-run ball, as Royal righty Luinder Avila<\/a> matched him with five two-hit frames, walking three and allowing one run in a bases-loaded, no-out situation that the Twins mustered in the home fifth.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n From there, it was a bullpen battle. Guess how that turned out?<\/p>\n A combination of Taylor Rogers<\/a> and Yoendrys Gomez got the Twins to the bottom of the eighth still in a 1-1 deadlock; the efforts of Daniel Lynch IV<\/a> and Lucas Erceg<\/a> did the same for Kansas City<\/a>. Then, with two outs and Matt Strahm<\/a> on the bump, Derek Shelton sent pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia<\/a> to the plate. Arcia, not so much known for his power anymore, smashed his first bomb of the year into left, staking Minnesota<\/a> to a late 2-1 lead.<\/p>\n I guess Eric Orze<\/a> is a vegetarian. (\u201cStaking\/steaking\u201d joke<\/em>).<\/p>\n If you remember Yostball fondly, the ninth inning was a blast from the past. After Isaac Collins<\/a> found his way aboard with a groundball single, pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert<\/a> swiped second and advanced to third after a Kyle Isbel<\/a> sacrifice bunt. From there, a sac fly tied the game, but not for long! Bobby Witt Jr\u2019s 400th career RBI \u2014 a single into left \u2014 brought home a third and final run for the Royals, and handed Orze his third blown save of the season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Twins, in true Twins fashion, made it as frustrating as possible in the bottom of the ninth. Kody Clemens<\/a>\u2019 13th double of the year led off the inning against Alex Lange<\/a>, but Josh Bell<\/a> and Austin Martin<\/a> both went down on strikes. After Victor Caratini<\/a> reached on a HBP, it was a storybook setup for Royce Lewis (who played second and first in this one.) But on a 3-2 pitch, Royce was called out on a cutter on the corner to lock it up for Kansas City.<\/p>\n The Twins will play for the split tomorrow afternoon. Heck, they might even try their hardest!<\/p>\n