The Royals’ bullpen made the wrong kind of MLB history in KC’s win over Twins
For a while it looked like there might be a lengthy rain delay Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
The game was never stopped, but the Royals’ 13-9 win over the Twins was still a long night for the smattering of fans who stuck around until the final out.
It took 3 hours, 36 minutes to finish, making it the longest nine-inning Royals game since the pitch clock was introduced in 2023.
Despite his team having a 12-1 lead after six innings, Royals manager Matt Quatraro had to call upon Lucas Erceg to get the save in the ninth inning. The Royals bullpen had a rough night with six relievers combining to throw just four innings.
The bullpen allowed eight runs on five hits with eight walks issued. The circumstances of the Royals’ victory had not happened before in the modern era of Major League Baseball (starting in 1901).
OptaStats shared this nugget: “The Royals are the only MLB team in the modern era to have their bullpen allow 8+ walks and 8+ runs in 4.0 innings or less and yet still win the game.”
That’s a mostly bad stat for the Royals, but hey, they got the victory.
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 9:00 AM.
