Twins’ Late-Inning Magic Ends as Royals Claim Victory

MINNEAPOLIS — All conditions were aligned for the Twins’ third consecutive walk-off victory on Sunday: The game was tied, it was the ninth inning, and the top of the lineup was due up.

Perhaps it appeared too simple.

Carlos Estévez of Kansas City got out of a jam by retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning, and Taylor Clarke prevented two Minnesota Twins from scoring in the tenth. Consequently, the Royals managed to secure a 2-1 win in the final game of the series at Target Field.

In the 10th inning, Maikel Garcia hit a two-out, two-strike single that allowed courtesy runner Nick Loftin to score from second base, which dashed the hopes of an enthusiastic audience of 32,501 fans cheering for the Twins to secure a three-game series win against the Royals and finish their four-game home stand with a 4-1 record.

Rather than an offensive showcase, they saw the Twins manage just three hits across much of the game, sending only three hitters to bat in eight out of ten innings. This dearth of scoring was particularly evident in the tenth inning, where pinch runner Carlos Correa began on second base.

Royce Lewis came up for the initial out, however, pinch hitter Kody Clemens managed to draw a walk. Harrison Bader hit a ground ball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., which resulted in a double play; nonetheless, the throw from second baseman Michael Massey arrived tardily. Despite stealing second base, Brooks Lee had an opportunity to be the walk-off hero for consecutive days but ended up hitting a ground ball to third baseman Alex Lee, resulting in a straightforward last out.

The defeat marked just the Twins’ third loss in their last 19 games, and their fourth at home over their previous 21 contests at Target Field.

For the seventh time in his last 11 outings this season, Bailey Ober conceded just one run, which came via a two-out hit against him. Through six innings of shutout baseball, where he stranded multiple baserunners with men in scoring position, Ober encountered trouble in the seventh when he gave up a leadoff double to Drew Waters. Despite inducing a ground ball and a pop-up that prevented Waters from advancing further, Ober was pulled after Royals’ catcher Freddy Fermin drove an 0-2 changeup deep into the outfield gap in left-center, tying the game with a double.

The problem was that Ober’s talent was rivaled, perhaps surpassed, by Royals’ star Kris Bubic, a southpaw who had conceded just one run across 25 1/3 innings in his preceding four May outings. However, before Bubic could settle in, the Twins had equaled that tally within the first two batters; Ryan Jeffers began the game with a double to the far-right field, followed swiftly by Ty France hitting a single to center, which brought Jeffers home. But after those initial scores, Bubic clamped down tightly. Actually, Jeffers remained the sole Twin player to make it as far as second base throughout the entire day.

Bobic encountered another twenty-two Twins hitters during his seven-inning outing, yet not a single one managed to get a hit. Although he issued two walks, he faced only the bare minimum of eighteen batters across his final six innings. In the eighth inning, Trevor Larnach ended this streak with a leadoff single against pitcher Jonathan Bowlan, however, he was subsequently tagged out attempting to steal second base—this decision stood after review despite the objections from the audience at Target Field.

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