At Target Field, the Minnesota Twins turned the tables on the Kansas City Royals, winning the four-game series in the process. The Royals have prospered this season thanks to late-inning comebacks. In fact, they were up early on thanks to a two-run home run in the first inning by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who had just returned from a lower leg injury. However, in the series finale on Thursday, KC was given a dose of its own medicine. The Twins overcame the Royals 7–6 thanks to four runs scored in the sixth inning. After dropping three of four games against their American League Central opponents, the Royals’ record plummeted to 35-23. The Royals’ manager, Matt Quatraro, stated, “We played well.” “We need to tighten up a little bit, but overall, we played two excellent teams (Tampa Bay and Minnesota) in really competitive games.” In the sixth inning, Minnesota erased a one-run deficit. Chris Stratton, a reliever for the Royals, took the worst of the damage. In his relieving appearance, he gave up four runs and was out of the game.
Carlos Correa of the Twins hit a three-run triple to take the lead, but Stratton gave it up. A pinch-hit RBI single by Max Kepler gave Minnesota a further run. Stratton stated, “Kind of disappointed in myself.” “Merely following a few of those guys there afterwards.” I thought I performed better in the early going, and I thought I did well today. Simply put, didn’t finish the task. It was too late for the Royals to rally from the deficit. KC used the long ball against Twins starter Chris Paddack to score runs early in the game. Melendez went deep against the Twins as well, in addition to Pasquantino. Melendez remarked, “I haven’t hit a ball like that in a while.” Thus, I’m feeling fantastic and my confidence is raised. The Twins bullpen managed to hold off the Royals in the end though. Bobby Witt Jr., a key player for the Royals, knocked a two-run single off Twins closer Jhoan Duran to bring Kansas City within one run. But Minnesota gained to 31-25 as Duran closed the deal. Thus far in 2024, the Twins have defeated KC in five of their seven games.
Brady Singer, the Royals’ first starter on Thursday, had to be pulled because of an illness, so they had to add someone late to the starting lineup. Lynch answered the Triple-A Omaha call and did a good job. In five innings against the Twins, he gave up three runs. He worked his way through a challenging lineup and made a few pitches that left runners on base. Lynch escaped a possible catastrophe in the fourth inning after loaded the bases. With a 4-2 deficit, the Twins had an opportunity to go ahead. With ease, Lynch changed direction after giving up a two-run home run to Ryan Jeffers earlier in the inning. Lynch stated, “I was glad to keep us in the game.” Just maintain the winning position for us. I have a good sense that I can pitch ideas. Ending the inning, Lynch got catcher Christian Vazquez to fly out after striking out Carlos Santana, a star player for the Twins. It was his 72nd pitch. 33 swings and 6 whiffs, according to Baseball Savant. The only errors made by the veteran concerned Jeffers, who slugged two home runs. Nevertheless, Lynch was left with a no-decision when the Twins took advantage of the Royals bullpen in the sixth inning to score four runs. “I think I filled up the (strike) zone really well, but Jeffers put two really good swings on the ball,” Lynch remarked. “It was pretty good overall, but there’s still some stuff to work on.”
Melendez had spent the last few weeks in a difficult place. His batting average of.173, which was rapidly declining before Thursday’s game, was far below the Mendoza line (the.200 barrier). Furthermore, since May 15, Melendez has only managed four hits in his previous 30 at-bats. “We anticipate that he will recover because those guys are giving it their all with him,” Quatraro stated. During his second at-bat, Melendez started to emerge from his extended rut. He hit a 416-foot home run into Target Field’s right-field concourse. The Royals led 4-0 after his fifth home run of the 2024 season.
The San Diego Padres will be the visitors to Kauffman Stadium when the Royals return home. Michael Wacha, a veteran of the Royals, is anticipated to start against his old team. Dylan Cease, a right-hander, will open the series for the Padres. Cease (5-4) gave up four earned runs in his most recent appearance and has a 3.29 ERA in 11 starts.
