Saturday’s Royals game was wild and came down to the final inning. Here’s how KC won
The Kansas City Royals certainly don’t make it easy on themselves.
Down to the final out of the last inning.
Royals closer Scott Barlow did just enough to earn three outs and strand two Minnesota Twins runners as the Royals won 3-2 on Saturday at Target Field. It was KC’s first victory against the Twins in six attempts.
“It felt really, really good.,” said Barlow. “We just battled back. (It) was a pretty close game the whole way through. We found our way to the lead there at the end. It felt good. We had fun.”
The game was played to a stalemate for the much of the afternoon. The Royals (7-21) rallied in the 9th inning, with the score tied 2-2 and runners on second and third.
Twins closer Jhoan Duran threw a wild pitch and the runner on third — Edward Olivares — capitalized. That sequence became the game winning KC run.
“You got Duran coming in there throwing 101, “ said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “So it seems easy to say he wasn’t throwing strikes, but you have to gear up and be ready for that. So, laying off some of those pitches — (Olivares) had a really good at bat.”
After struggling in his last start, Royals pitcher Brad Keller got back on track Saturday. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, surrendering one run. The righty threw 92 pitches, 49 for strikes, and walked five batters.
The only run Keller gave up came on a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
“That was huge,” Quatraro said about Keller’s performance. “Brad went out there and from time to time he lost his command a bit, but got right back in the zone. ...They made him work. They are a good lineup and he responded.”
After an impressive offensive output on Friday, the Royals’ bats struggled against Twins’ star Bailey Ober. Ober came into the game with a 1.59 ERA — a number that was backed up by his play in Saturday’s game.
Ober exited after 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and striking out six. He threw 86 pitches, 46 for strikes, and walked two.
Nicky Lopez got the Royals on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a single that drove in Olivares from second base. The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning with a solo homer by Byron Buxton.
In the top of the eighth, Salvador Perez singled to score Bobby Witt Jr. and tie the score once again.
Missed the previous games in this series?
- Game 1: What went wrong for KC Royals starter Zack Greinke in loss to Twins.
- Game 2: A lowlight of a difficult season, Royals give up double ... on a bunt in loss to Twins
Nick Pratto continues to impress
After getting promoted to the show on Friday, Pratto has had quite a showing at the plate.
Pratto went 3-for-5 on Friday and then continued his hot streak on Saturday. The outfielder went 2-for-3 at the plate and drew a walk.
Umpires review a call early
In the first inning, the Twins’ Jorge Polanco hit a deep ball to right that looked close to being a home run, but instead, Polanco was tagged out at second.
After some confusion, the umpires turned to instant reply.
They ruled that the ball was in play and that Polanco was out, which ended the inning.
Up next: The Royals complete their four-game series against the Twins at 1:10 p.m. Central on Sunday. Brady Singer will face Minnesota’s Sonny Gray.
This story was originally published April 29, 2023 at 4:21 PM.
