Minnesota's bats never found a rhythm. The Twins managed five hits and never crossed the plate, held scoreless across all nine innings as the Kansas City Royals controlled every phase of a 4-0 win at Target Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
R. Dobnak was at the center of it. The right-hander worked seven innings, allowing four hits and no runs while walking one and striking out four. He earned his first win of the season, and the bullpen finished the job, with two relievers combining for two scoreless innings to preserve the shutout. Team pitching held Minnesota off the board from start to finish.
Kansas City opened the scoring in the third when Tyler Tolbert homered to left center, a 404-foot shot that snapped the scoreless tie and gave the Royals a lead they would not surrender. The lead grew steadily. In the fourth, Nick Loftin's sacrifice fly to center brought home Perez. In the fifth, Carter Jensen doubled to left to score Tolbert, and Jac Caglianone followed with an infield single to first that plated Jensen, closing the scoring at 4-0.
Joe Ryan started for Minnesota and lasted six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts before Kendry Rojas came on and threw three scoreless innings in relief, striking out four. Ryan's outing put Minnesota in an early hole it could never climb out of, and the Twins' offense could not generate anything against Dobnak or the Royals bullpen.
The result dropped Minnesota to 54-55, snapping any momentum after a loss that extended the skid to one. Kansas City improved to 46-63, riding the win to a one-game winning streak. Tolbert finished 2-for-3 with a homer, a double and a walk, raising his season totals to three home runs and six RBI.