Royals’ offense catches fire against Twins with Soler, Dozier, Taylor providing spark
The Kansas City Royals lineup card must have been written in some mystical ink, or perhaps the paper itself had traces of fairy dust. Far-fetched, sure, but the way Friday night’s game played out warranted something more than coincidence as an explanation.
“You look at the bottom of that lineup being (Jorge) Soler, (Hunter) Dozier, (Michael) Taylor, that’s got the potential — I think we all understand potential doesn’t get the job done — but it sure has the makings to be something pretty special,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said hours before the game.
The exact portion of the lineup that Matheny touted — the bottom three hitters — combined for five hits, five runs scored, one walk and one RBI against the Minnesota Twins. Those hitters started the two innings during which the Royals scored all their runs.
All three players were on base twice, and they all also scored as the Royals put up as many runs in the game as they had in the previous four combined on the way to an 8-3 win in front of an announced 14,260 at Target Field in the first game of a three-game series.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Matheny said postgame. “These guys are too good for that not to happen. It’s great to see. I’m really impressed with Soler. What he did today was very similar to his work today in early work and his batting practice. Just not trying to do too much.
“I would say it’s probably really hard for a guy that has 48-home run power to shorten up sometimes and use the field. But it’s also necessary at times, and that was the approach he had, and he stuck with it through the game.”
The eight runs were the most by the Royals (24-25) in a game since May 1.
Soler, who batted in the No. 7 spot, snapped out of an 0-for-21 slump with two hits. Fresh off the injured list, Dozier, who batted in the No. 8 spot, snapped out of a 0-for-32 funk with a walk and a single. Taylor, the No. 9 hitter, had two hits.
Whit Merrifield (2 for 5, three RBIs two runs), Salvador Perez (2 for 5, RBI), Adalberto Mondesi (2 for 5, RBI), Soler (2 for 4, run) and Taylor (2 for 4, two runs, RBI) all enjoyed multi-hit games. Merrifield, Perez, Mondesi and Taylor all also hit doubles.
Mondesi, who played for the first time this season on Tuesday night after starting the season on the IL, now has three doubles in four games. Along with his double, he had a pair of hard-hit deep drives that didn’t carry on a 60-degree day in Minneapolis.
“That’s kind of our lineup at full strength tonight, and it was good to see that produce eight runs,” Merrifield said. “We’re pumped to have Dozier back. Obviously, it’s great to have Mondi back. On a normal night in the summer, he has three homers tonight. So he continues to look good. It was great seeing Soler make some good swings tonight.”
The Royals took a 3-1 lead in the fifth thanks to a two-out walk by Dozier followed by three consecutive hits to drive in runs. Taylor’s RBI double to right-center allowed Dozier to score on an aggressive baserunning play.
It looked like it could’ve been a close play at the plate with the relay throw coming through second baseman Jorge Polanco, but the throw home came in on a hop and Twins catcher Mitch Garver didn’t catch it cleanly and Dozier scored without a tag.
Merrfield followed with an RBI single to left field — he had one RBI in his previous 15 games — and he advanced to second on left fielder Alex Kiriloff’s throw home. With Merrifield in scoring position, Carlos Santana smacked an RBI single into right field.
The Royals poured on five more runs in the seventh inning, the first three were charged to Twins starter Randy Dobnak. That inning started with consecutive singles by Soler, Dozier and Taylor. Dobnak did not record an out in the inning before being removed from the game.
“Guys like Soler and Dozier that have gotten off to a slow start, they’ve got a track record in this league,” Merrifield said. “ … They’ve established themselves in this league as a certain type of player. It’s just a matter of time before they get back to that. That hasn’t left, it’s just they’re going through a certain thing. We all have confidence in them. We know they’ll get it going. When they do, it will be a dangerous offense.”
Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic allowed one run on four hits (one home run) and two walks in six innings. He struck out five and picked up his first win of the season in the process.
He stumbled a little bit out of the gate with a lead-off walk, but Royals third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez made a great play in snagging a ball scorched to his left and starting a double play.
The next batter, Nelson Cruz, doubled to the left-field corner. Bubic stranded Cruz and Garver on base at the end of the first inning. Bubic didn’t allow more than one batter to reach in an inning the rest of the night.
“That could’ve changed the whole game right there,” Bubic said of Gutierrez starting the double play. “First and second or even first and third with Cruz coming up and no outs. I could’ve put myself in a pretty tough spot right away, but he stepped up huge and made a really nice play to his left. Thankfully, we got the double play.”
The Twins lone run came when Garver launched a 3-2 fastball from Bubic 424 feet to left field for a solo home run in the fourth inning. Garver’s eighth homer of the season was the first allowed by Bubic this year.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 10:42 PM.
