Kansas City led for most of the night. Then the eighth inning happened, and the Twins turned a one-run deficit into a win they will not remember quietly. Minnesota's 4-3 victory over the Royals was decided in a single frame that undid five innings of Kansas City's careful work.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Michael Wacha gave the Royals exactly what they needed for most of his outing, working 5.2 innings and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 3 walks and 1 strikeout. He departed with a lead intact, and for a while it looked like it might hold. Kansas City's bullpen could not preserve it, allowing 3 runs across 3.1 innings of work as the Twins chipped away and then broke through.
Kansas City built its lead in the third when Caglianone singled to right, scoring both Jensen and Witt Jr. to make it 2-0. The Royals added another run in the sixth when Perez singled to left and Witt Jr. scored again, pushing the lead to 3-1. But Minnesota answered emphatically in the eighth. Bell singled to right to bring home Keaschall and cut the deficit to one, and two batters later Lee singled to right, scoring both Jackson and Jeffers to flip the score to 4-3 and hand Minnesota the lead for good.
Royce Lewis had supplied Minnesota's first run with a solo home run to left in the fifth, a 421-foot shot off Wacha that trimmed the deficit to 0-2 at the time. Starter Bailey Ober worked 6.0 innings for the Twins, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with no walks. Kody Funderburk picked up the win after tossing 1.0 scoreless inning of relief, and Yoendrys Gomez closed it out with a scoreless ninth for his 15th save of the season. On the losing side, Aaron Bummer was charged with the loss after allowing 3 runs in just 0.1 innings.
Witt Jr. reached three times and scored twice for Kansas City, while Brooks Lee's two-RBI single proved the difference for Minnesota. The Twins improved to 57-59 with the win, extending their momentum after snapping into a new streak, while the Royals fell to 48-68.