Royals 5, Twins 4: Early lead evaporates

The Twins were the first team on the board tonight, scoring 3 in the 2nd inning off of Royals starter Zack Greinke. Jake Cave and Gilberto Celestino both hit 1-out singles, then the rookie Matt Wallner doubled into the right field corner, scoring Cave from 2nd. Luis Arraez flew out to left, but Celestino wasn’t able to tag up and score. Carlos Correa cleaned things up, however, hitting a 2-run single to left.

The Royals answered back in the 3rd with 2 runs thanks to a 2-run homer by MJ Melendez (16).

In the bottom of the 5th, Hunter Dozier deposited a Dylan Bundy fastball into left field to tie the game at 3. Nick Eaton followed with a single, then stole 2nd base. After a wild pitch by Bundy advanced Eaton to 3rd, Melendez popped out. Griffin Jax was brought in, but Bobby Witt Jr. singled to give the Royals a 4-3 advantage.

Gio Urshela started the 6th with a double to right field, the 10th hit off of Greinke for the Twins tonight. Gary Sanchez struck out, then Amir Garrett replaced Greinke. Two pitches later, Jake Cave tied the game at 4 with an RBI double.

Caleb Thielbar allowed a couple hits but struck out 3 in a scoreless 6th inning. In the 7th, Correa hit a 1-out single, but was caught stealing as Jose Miranda also struck out to end the inning. It feels like the Twins had a lot of scoring chances and baserunners tonight, but just couldn’t capitalize.

Michael Fulmer was tasked with pitching the 7th, giving up an RBI double to Twins killer Salvador Perez.

In the 8th with 1 out Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez were both hit by pitches, but nothing came of that threat. The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 9th, giving us our 5-4 final. They fall to 73-75 as the nosedive continues.

Studs:

Carlos Correa: 3-5, 2 RBI

Nick Gordon: 3-4, 2 2B

Jake Cave: 2-4, 2B, RBI

Duds:

Dylan Bundy: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, BB, 2 SO

Michael Fulmer: 1.0 IP, 3 H, BB, ER, 0 SO

Luis Arraez: 0-5