Royals 3, Twins 1: Wallner’s Early Blast Not Enough as Twins Fall Flat in KC

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of © Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (83 pitches, 45 strikes)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Buxton -0.14, Jeffers -0.08, Larnach -0.08
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

 

The Twins opened their first divisional series of the season looking to bounce back after dropping two of three to the Baltimore Orioles. Instead, it was more of the same frustrating formula as Minnesota fell to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in a game that felt all too familiar.

Both teams entered the day at 1-2, with the Royals turning to left-hander Kris Bubic while the Twins handed the ball to Simeon Woods Richardson for his season debut. The right-hander delivered a strong outing, giving the Twins exactly what they needed on the mound. Woods Richardson worked five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out two. He was efficient and limited damage, though he generated just six swings and misses on the night.

The only real blemish came in the second inning when Kyle Isbel connected on a two-run home run that put Kansas City in front. Outside of that swing, Woods Richardson kept the Royals in check and gave Minnesota a chance to stay in the game.

The Twins actually struck first in that same inning thanks to Matt Wallner, who launched a solo home run into the fountains in right-center field to lead things off. It was Wallner’s first home run of the season and just the eighth of his career against a left-handed pitcher. At the time, it looked like a sign that the Twins might be able to string together some early offense against Bubic.

That hope didn’t last long.

After Wallner’s blast, the Twins' offense went quiet for the remainder of the night. Minnesota managed just three more hits the rest of the way, all singles off the bats of Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and Ryan Jeffers. The Twins had only one opportunity with a runner in scoring position and failed to capitalize, never seriously threatening again.

In relief of Woods Richardson, Kyle Funderburk provided some swing and miss out of the bullpen. The left-hander struck out three over an inning and a third, but he also allowed a solo home run to Isaac Collins that extended the Royals lead to 3-1. That would be all the breathing room Kansas City needed.

Justin Topa and Taylor Rogers followed with scoreless outings to keep things close, continuing what was an overall solid night from the pitching staff. The Twins allowed just three runs on seven hits across eight innings, more than enough to win on most days.

This just wasn’t one of them.

The game had the feel of the early 2025 Twins, with a quick burst of momentum early followed by long stretches of quiet at the plate. A quality start went to waste, and a winnable game slipped away without much resistance from the offense.

What's Next

Minnesota will have an off day to regroup before continuing the series on Wednesday. The Twins have yet to name a starter, while Kansas City is expected to send left-hander Noah Cameron to the mound.

Postgame Interviews

(Coming Soon)

Bullpen Usage Chart

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Abel	0	0	0	81	0	81
Topa	18	0	12	0	10	30
Funderburk	17	0	13	0	26	30
Orze	0	0	21	0	0	21
Banda	0	0	15	3	0	18
Sands	0	0	16	0	0	16
Rogers	10	0	0	0	14	10
Laweryson	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kent	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[USAFChief]

They may not win much, but at least they're boring as hell to watch. 

[The Great Hambino]

7 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

They may not win much, but at least they're boring as hell to watch. 

I feel like we've watched this exact same game a zillion times the past few years.

They've been trying to make a cake with a bad recipe and crappy ingredients, and they thought they could fix the problem by getting new measuring cups

[GNess]

Do you think there will be another trade deadline sell off to talk about?

[ziggy]

Obviously it's high time they hire a new hitting coach.

[Peter]

4 games in record at 1-3 is it to early to hit panic button? Is this a wasted season already?

[ashbury]

I've been a broken record about Matt Wallner's lack of timely hitting in 2025, so I am very happy to give him his due for staking his team to an early lead.  Facing a lefty, even sweeter.

The article referred to a quality start for SWR, but 5 innings isn't a Quality Start by the usual definition.  It kinda sort meets a reasonable expectation for an early season start.

[AceWrigley]

Kind of funny, but looking at the standings right now in the AL, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same alignment at the end of the season.

[Sjoski]

20 minutes ago, GNess said:

Do you think there will be another trade deadline sell off to talk about?

After the July 31st sell off, any local high school baseball team is going to have more veteran leadership than our opening day roster in 2027.

[Loops]

It's going to be a long season 

[nicksaviking]

7 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I've been a broken record about Matt Wallner's lack of timely hitting in 2025, so I am very happy to give him his due for staking his team to an early lead.  Facing a lefty, even sweeter.

The article referred to a quality start for SWR, but 5 innings isn't a Quality Start by the usual definition.  It kinda sort meets a reasonable expectation for an early season start.

Wallner actually had reverse splits last year (well basically even splits). Baldelli didn't seem to notice until Bader was traded though.

[Vanimal46]

4.3% optimism for the Twins on the Athletic's Hope-O-Meter may be a little too high. 

[ashbury]

6 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Wallner actually had reverse splits last year (well basically even splits). Baldelli didn't seem to notice until Bader was traded though.

Reverse splits that persist are rare, and for his career he had been very weak against lefties, so I'm happy to see him be playable against them and let the splits start to normalize.  If he can manage a .700 OPS against the lefties and then start to totally mash righties, he'll have a nice career.

[h2oface]

.141 Team batting average after 4 games. 

[jkcarew]

24 minutes ago, Peter said:

4 games in record at 1-3 is it to early to hit panic button? Is this a wasted season already?

No way, Peter! Only a game-and-a-half out of the last Wild Card spot.

I’ll be scoreboard watching along with you tonight!

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

They may not win much, but at least they're boring as hell to watch. 

And our baserunners may not all be fast, but at least they all seem to exhibit really poor judgment and instincts.

[TheLeviathan]

The regular positional players remain my greatest frustration with this franchise.  We simply do not put good enough players out in the field on a daily basis.

Bullpen and rotation have their issues, but the lineup and defense remain the central problem.

[Patzky]

15 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

And our baserunners may not all be fast, but at least they all seem to exhibit really poor judgment and instincts.

Even CB Bucknor has a better average.

[DocBauer]

Regarding SIM, it was a solid 1st start even if it didn't qualify as a 6 IP quality start. I mean, we're only FOUR games in people. Ryan. Bradley and Sims have looked good. Ober, unfortunately, not so much.

The RH lineup vs LHP works if Jeffers gets untracked, same with Lewis and Bell. But it's still FOUR games. And Keaschall, coming off a tremendous ST, has been cold so far. 

I wonder if Martin's good start might mean he gets chances against RHP?

Lewis's 2 HR is a positive sign. Now let's see him make better contact consistently. 

Wallner is the Twins choice to be the 1 LH bat in the lineup. And that makes sense on multiple levels beyond being in the lineup when the opposing team switches to a RHP. He was SUPPOSED to the the 1 LH bat in the lineup in 2025, NOT Larnach. But his injury held him out. He's shown SOME improvement against LHP in his career, and has a solid eye. So far, in SSSS, he has 2 BB and 1 HR against LHP to begin 2026. 

That's why he's the lone LH batter in a mediocre RH lineup against LHP. He CAN earn a BB. And he CAN turn on a mistake. And then when a RH reliever comes in, he might just be dangerous. 

I kinda like what Shelton has done early, even if I'm not crazy about it. The Twins lineup is weak against LHP unless Jeffers, Lewis, Bell, and Keaschall start to get hot. But that's almost ditto against RHP. SO FAR, the bullpen hasn't collapsed. But offense and the lineup, I'm not ready to panic of complete incompetence after four games.

 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

This was a classic Twins game. 

[Jack Pine]

1 hour ago, GNess said:

Do you think there will be another trade deadline sell off to talk about?

Nothing left but prospects.  Oh yeah.

[jkcarew]

44 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

The regular positional players remain my greatest frustration with this franchise.  We simply do not put good enough players out in the field on a daily basis.

Bullpen and rotation have their issues, but the lineup and defense remain the central problem.

Can’t disagree.

1. The lineup isn’t very good

2. The defense is iffy

3. The baserunning is aggressive…and ineffective

4. The rotation is wildly inefficient

5. The bullpen is a dry keg of gunpowder

All of which beg the question…If Mrs Lincoln had already KNOWN GOING INto the play that her husband would be assassinated, would she have enjoyed the performance more.

[Old Twins Hat]

26 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

I kinda like what Shelton has done early, even if I'm not crazy about it. The Twins lineup is weak against LHP unless Jeffers, Lewis, Bell, and Keaschall start to get hot. But that's almost ditto against RHP. SO FAR, the bullpen hasn't collapsed. But offense and the lineup, I'm not ready to panic of complete incompetence after four games.

Using Caratini to generate a RH bat against Lefties.  So, Jeffers and Caratini and Bell and Lee against Lefties.  Sorry, that's weak, slow and lacks power. Throw in Martin in LF -- if I am the opposing manager, I would bring up a AAA lefty to face that lineup.

They need a RH stick, like GG or Culpepper, and in general, they need some better energy, talent, speed and even body language.  I mean, I am happy Royce has two dingers, but he runs around the bases as if he has just single-handedly won the World Series.  If I am a major leaguer, and admittedly I am an old timer, but if I am on a losing team, I don't go wild celebrating until we start winning games.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

The regular positional players remain my greatest frustration with this franchise.  We simply do not put good enough players out in the field on a daily basis.

Bullpen and rotation have their issues, but the lineup and defense remain the central problem.

Crazy how they figured out how to maximize an offensive roster when the ball was juiced and since then they have been utterly hopeless. The other teams figured out how to adapt and build a different kind of lineup but not our Twins.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Reverse splits that persist are rare, and for his career he had been very weak against lefties, so I'm happy to see him be playable against them and let the splits start to normalize.  If he can manage a .700 OPS against the lefties and then start to totally mash righties, he'll have a nice career.

I don't expect him to have reverse splits for his career, but he absolutely murdered left-handed pitchers in the minors. Including at AAA. Like over a .900 OPS.

The Twins undying obsession with platooning everyone lead to 46 PAs against lefties in 2023 and 44 PAs against them in 2024. The very definition of small samples. He got 97 last year and we saw the OPS start to rise. There's no reason to believe Matt Wallner can't hit lefties. In sample sizes over 50 PAs a season he's done incredibly well against them. He's been a victim of Twins macro-analytics.

[Aggies7]

Starting to feel like the mid to late 90s. Cherish every rare win we get. At least then I couldn’t watch the games
 

[laloesch]

Offense once again anemic to start a season. Gonna be a longgggg summer

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Crazy how they figured out how to maximize an offensive roster when the ball was juiced and since then they have been utterly hopeless. The other teams figured out how to adapt and build a different kind of lineup but not our Twins.

Rest of the league: Athletes are good.

Twins: We're beer-leaguing this ****.

[knothole61]

4 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

I feel like we've watched this exact same game a zillion times the past few years.

They've been trying to make a cake with a bad recipe and crappy ingredients, and they thought they could fix the problem by getting new measuring cups

"Someone left the cake out in the rain..."

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, knothole61 said:

"Someone left the cake out in the rain..."

In the spirit of the season:

h/t to ... well, they'll know.