How the Kansas City Royals came up short again after leading Friday vs. Twins
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Royals scored two first-inning runs but lost 5-3 to the Twins at Target Field.
- Michael Wacha allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings and was charged with the loss.
- Beck Way made his MLB debut in the eighth inning, striking out two batters.
The Kansas City Royals built some early momentum against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night but couldn’t sustain it in a 5-3 loss at Target Field.
The Royals (25-39) have now lost five of eight on their current 10-game road trip.
Friday’s game looked promising early as the Royals scored two runs in the first inning. Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone each doubled in a run to give starting pitcher Michael Wacha a nice cushion.
This season, Wacha has received an average of 3.5 runs of support per start. But the 34-year-old right-hander couldn’t hold Kansas City’s slim advantage for the entirety of his outing.
Wacha was cruising until the sixth inning. Until that point he had surrendered just one run, courtesy of Brooks Lee’s RBI groundout.
As he worked his way through the Twins’ lineup a third time, though, Wacha ran into major trouble.
“I just wasn’t executing pitches when I needed to,” he said of his sixth-inning performance. “Yeah, they took advantage of it.”
Lee was a catalyst. He hit a 89.6 mph cutter over the right-field wall for his ninth home run of the season. The solo blast tied the game at 2-2.
It didn’t stay tied for long. Kody Clemens and Josh Bell doubled in consecutive at-bats and Orlando Arcia dropped a single in front of Caglianone in right field.
Caglianone attempted to make the diving grab on Arcia’s hit. But he trapped the baseball and then threw wildly as Bell raced toward third base.
The ball rolled away from Royals infielders Nick Loftin and Bobby Witt Jr. and Bell scored.
“I thought I had a shot at it, at least scoop it in my glove on the short-hop,” Caglianone said. “But once I obviously didn’t feel it in my glove, I worried it rolled past me and was up against the wall.
“I saw it down at my feet. I assumed that Arcia was going to keep going because he saw me panicking trying to find the ball. Then I look up and see Bell wasn’t even at third yet. Didn’t even see where Arcia was. So I ripped it and got around it way too much.”
All of a sudden, the Twins held a 4-2 lead. And Minnesota would add another run when two wild pitches from Wacha allowed Arcia to score.
The veteran Wacha was charged with all five runs Friday. He allowed eight hits with just two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Per Baseball Savant, he didn’t have command of his featured pitches. He logged 45 swings and eight whiffs; his changeup registered five batted-ball events and his fastball and cutter combined for six hard hits.
“I thought the fastball command was there for a little bit,” Wacha said. “I definitely kind of yanked a couple where I was trying to go in. But I thought it got better as the game went on.
“Kind of those middle innings. And then just some off-speed pitches that didn’t have much life to them there in that sixth that they took advantage of.”
The Royals attempted to cut into the Twins’ lead, but right fielder Austin Martin’s two outfield assists led to KC outs at home plate.
First he threw out Caglianone in the fourth inning; then he nailed Isaac Collins in the seventh. That sort of defensive effort helped Twins right-handed starter Zebby Matthews pitch a quality start.
“I felt like I had a pretty decent jump,” Collins said of the play on which he tried to score. “And right when he hit the ball, I knew he was going to send me. Like I didn’t have any doubt that he wasn’t going to send me there. And then, looking at the replay, he made a really good throw.
“I felt like I got a decent jump and made a good turn. But yeah, they are good, too, and they make plays, too. Got to give them credit.”
Matthews earned his second win of the year. After allowing two runs in the first inning, he pitched six scoreless.
Wacha took the loss. His season ERA is 3.44.
On a positive note, Royals right-handed reliever Beck Way made his major-league debut in the eighth inning, striking out two.
“He kept his composure and threw a lot of strikes,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Way. “Used all of his pitches and he struck out two and got a weak fly ball. So there wasn’t much to not like about it.”
The Twins (30-35) will look to take the lead in this four-game series behind frontline right-handed starter Joe Ryan on Saturday afternoon. He has a career 2.58 ERA against the Royals but allowed five earned runs against them on April 1 at Kauffman Stadium.
What’s next: Royals right-hander Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.44 ERA) will start Saturday’s game opposite Twins ace RHP Joe Ryan (4-3, 3.20 ERA). First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. Central Time.
