Twins 5, Royals 3: Sixth Inning Ambush Fuels Comeback Win

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

 

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
Home Runs: Brooks Lee (9)
Top 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (.130), Brooks Lee (.120), Orlando Arcia (.120)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

There was rain. Or maybe there wasn’t. Well, there was supposed to be rain. Those who should know told us, anyways. And it might be back there in the distance somewhere. We’ll push this game back an hour and a half. It’ll build character. And then we’ll make them get an Apple TV subscription again. That’ll also build character. Are you tired of all the character? 

Nestled in Minneapolis—on the outskirts of the skyscrapers and man-made institutions that inspire awe and assert dominance—sits the stadium that contained the baseball played on Friday. The field, a beautiful arrangement of limestone, greenery, and screens, gave way to a classic back-and-forther on Thursday, the kind of game that could entertain even the most arduous baseball hater, though it ended in a loss for the protagonist Twins. And this is where we find our heroes: lauded and mired in the common traps and pitfalls of a team that simply may not be good. Not bad. Just not good. The Lord would spit them from his mouth if given the opportunity. 

Zebby Matthews certainly didn’t begin his start well. Fresh off the vague, esoteric rain delay, the square-jawed hurler found the terrain unfamiliar and rude. Kansas City crushed his offerings. A Bobby Witt Jr. walk portended a stolen base, placing the dynamic speedster in scoring position for any hitter. Vinnie Pasquantino made the point moot with a double cracked into right field. Jac Caglianone brought home his Italian-American brethren with a double off the Jericho wall in right-center. 

The instant offense paralyzed the Twins. Their bats remained dormant for two innings. The clever finesse veteran Michael Wacha knew which buttons to press and selected them with the acumen of a hurler 14 years into his major league career. 

Finally, matters turned in favor of Minnesota—ironically after they lost their best player, Byron Buxton, who exited following a failed encounter with the center field wall. Alex Jackson singled, and pinch-hitter Tristan Gray reached first on a bunt, sending the leading runner to third in the process. Brooks Lee grounded out to conclude the manufactured run. 

At this point, Matthews was settled in, comfortable. The Royals found him more troublesome than before—though thanks in part to Austin Martin throwing out a would-be runner at home in the fourth. A pitcher can sometimes only be as good as his defense, after all.

Sitting at a 2-1 stalemate in the sixth, the Twins trudged to the batter’s box draped in the typical misfortune of an offense that couldn’t get going. They needed a hit to fuel things, yet the only fuel for such an endeavors is a hit. Quite the pickle. So, Lee simplified the situation by blasting a solo home run. 

“Homers kill rallies,” say some. In this case, they ignite them. Minnesota's bats became a flurry. Doubles by Kody Clemens and Josh Bell shot the Twins into the lead, and Orlando Arcia added on with an RBI knock into right field. Back-to-back wild pitches coaxed the scampering Arcia home safely. Suddenly, it was 5-2 Twins, and the Royals were no longer the aggressors in the game; they hadn’t flashed teeth since the first; they still couldn’t stop running into outs at home; Martin remained an armed terror manning right field with a vigor unseen since the cathedral was raised (outside of Max Kepler, but he never threw runners out quite like this).

Matthews ended his night after seven innings, ushering in the bullpen to end what the youngster had brilliantly started. Anthony Banda did so drama-less. Travis Adams did so with a soft tepid feeling of uneasiness, but he never devolved into worse territory, eventually closing the game with a soft pop-up off Kyle Isbel's bat. 

Notes:

Byron Buxton officially left the game with a shoulder injury, the same one he hurt earlier in the season, and manager Derek Shelton removed him from the game before his next at-bat. More updates will arrive later.

Kody Clemens is slashing .321/.345/.786 in his last seven games.

Zebby Matthews threw seven innings for the second time in 2026. He's averaging more than six innings a start.

Anthony Banda has not allowed an earned run since May 8th. 

Post-Game Interview:

Twitter accounts do not post an interview after an Apple TV game. 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Royals return to the Target Field confines Saturday for an early afternoon melee, sparring Joe Ryan against Luinder Avila. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Maybe. An estimation of rain could soil the start time. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

Morris	0	18	0	48	0	66
Paredes	0	0	0	50	0	50
Gómez	15	15	0	18	0	48
Lawrence	0	0	19	24	0	43
Orze	0	0	26	16	0	42
Banda	0	20	0	8	14	42
Adams	19	0	0	0	16	35
Laweryson	0	0	26	0	0	26
Rogers	0	0	12	11	0	23

View full article

[DataNerd]

If you had Austin Martin's arm being the difference in this game, go play the lottery.

Bullpen playing solid.  Adams got hit around a bit, but he didn't walk anybody up by 3 so I'm a lot less annoyed about today.

Matthews, who throughout his career has seemed to have worse results than he should, has a start where he has much better ones than he should have.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Great Win. I hate to see Buxton go down, but it doesn't seem like there is serious injury there. Great defensive game by Austin Martin throwing two guys out. Great tag by Alex Jackson on the first one. I think the next month is going to be really interesting as to where people are playing on the field. There are a lot of guys on the Saints who are performing well enough for a call-up. I think the Twins should move either Royce Lewis or Luke Keaschall to 1st base, and the other one should be at second. Kaalen Culpepper homered again today. If you bring him and Lewis up, you could have an infield of Keaschall, Lewis, Culpepper, and Lee from right to left with Clemens and Bell in DH roles. That is a lot more exciting than what we currently have. Also, Kyler Fedko homered twice today for St. Paul. I know he is not on the 40-man but he might be worth a call-up soon if he keeps hitting like this. Go Twins.

[GopherMike]

I was at that game right behind the Royals dugout. Great game.
 

Martin will get credit, and rightfully so, but those two tags at the plate by Jackson were both absolutely flawless, especially the first one where the throw was a little off. 

[knothole61]

Nice win...I like Martin in right. Probability that I would go crazy if AppleTV covered all the games: 97%!

[h2oface]

Some really good plays already mentioned but my favorite was the excellent bunt by Gray. It was funny to hear the announcers praise or defensive versatility followed by also being one of the very worst in MLB. 

[Peter]

Brooks Lee with home run was big but Austin Martin was player of the game with 2 throw outs at home plate!!! Adams made 9th interesting but held on for save!!! Huge bounce back win!!! Keep it going today/tomorrow!!! No more rain delays!!!

[langerr]

“Nestled in Minneapolis—on the outskirts of the skyscrapers and man-made institutions that inspire awe and assert dominance—sits the stadium that contains the baseball played on Friday. The field, a beautiful arrangement of limestone, greenery, and screens, gave way to a classic back-and-forther on Thursday, the kind of game that could entertain even the most arduous baseball hater, though it ended in a loss for the protagonist Twins. And this is where we find our heroes: lauded and mired in the common traps and pitfalls of a team that simply may not be good. Not bad. Just not good. The Lord would spit them from his mouth if given the opportunity. “

   Matt, the above paragraph is a thing of beauty, a GREAT piece of writing …

  In fact, it is so good. It prompted me to officially sign up for Twins Daily! I’ve been lurking on here for years ….

  In fact, I read the game descriptions on Twins Daily before the reading them on the Star Tribune, even though I do enjoy Bobby Nightingale‘s writing!

Lots of good storylines to follow on these Twins! Thanks for all the the good writings!

One good thing about baseball is there’s always another game within the next day or two!  Go Twins!

[Blyleven2011]

Just enough excitement in this one ...

Twins win with pitching , offense and defense  ...

 our house , it's a very very very fine house with 2 cats in the yard , life used to be so hard ...

Nice win , let's get another in our house today ...

[stringer bell]

What is Matthews’ first inning ERA? It seems he always gets hit in the first inning and settles after that.

Guys returning from injury (Abel, Rojas, Sands) could bolster the pitching staff and guys returning from banishment (Lewis, Wallner) and guys not on the 40-man (Fedko, Culpepper) could help the position player side. 

[DJL44]

The team that played the best defense won the game.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

47 minutes ago, langerr said:

“Nestled in Minneapolis—on the outskirts of the skyscrapers and man-made institutions that inspire awe and assert dominance—sits the stadium that contains the baseball played on Friday. The field, a beautiful arrangement of limestone, greenery, and screens, gave way to a classic back-and-forther on Thursday, the kind of game that could entertain even the most arduous baseball hater, though it ended in a loss for the protagonist Twins. And this is where we find our heroes: lauded and mired in the common traps and pitfalls of a team that simply may not be good. Not bad. Just not good. The Lord would spit them from his mouth if given the opportunity. “

   Matt, the above paragraph is a thing of beauty, a GREAT piece of writing …

  In fact, it is so good. It prompted me to officially sign up for Twins Daily! I’ve been lurking on here for years ….

  In fact, I read the game descriptions on Twins Daily before the reading them on the Star Tribune, even though I do enjoy Bobby Nightingale‘s writing!

Lots of good storylines to follow on these Twins! Thanks for all the the good writings!

One good thing about baseball is there’s always another game within the next day or two!  Go Twins!

I agree 100%. Great writing by Matt. Belongs in Sports Illustrated.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

50 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Just enough excitement in this one ...

Twins win with pitching , offense and defense  ...

 our house , it's a very very very fine house with 2 cats in the yard , life used to be so hard ...

Nice win , let's get another in our house today ...

I'll light the fire  You place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.  

[mikelink45]

It is so refreshing to read about good defense!

[thelanges5]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

What is Matthews’ first inning ERA? It seems he always gets hit in the first inning and settles after that.

Guys returning from injuryy (Abel, Rojas, Sands) couldd bolster the pitching staff and guys returning from banishment (Lewis, Wallner) and guys not on the 40-man (Fedko, Culpepper) could help the position player side. 

First time through the order he has an 8.68 ERA, compared to 1.46 for the second time. 

[jmlease1]

Talk about needing the starter to chew up some innings...and they got it from Zebulon. Good for him for settling down and getting the job done, and for the defense actually supporting the pitcher. A nice win.

Hopefully they can get the rotation healthy, claw together some consistent offense...keep digging for an actual bullpen...

[shimrod]

11 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

First time through the order he has an 8.68 ERA, compared to 1.46 for the second time. 

Sounds like an adjustment to game prep/warmups may be in order. Maybe takes longer than the typical pitcher to lock in his pitches. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

What is Matthews’ first inning ERA? It seems he always gets hit in the first inning and settles after that.

Guys returning from injury (Abel, Rojas, Sands) could bolster the pitching staff and guys returning from banishment (Lewis, Wallner) and guys not on the 40-man (Fedko, Culpepper) could help the position player side. 

I’ve heard zero here about Wallner - is he showing any signs of improvement?

Culpepper & Lewis would be welcomed in another few days - I don’t see Culpepper though….. Gray - Arcia - Kreidler are stringing together “adequacy”.

Maybe Royce will take Outman’s Roster spot before they ravel Monday?

With Byron buried up they may continue the agony of Outman on the roster…….. I’d ride with Kreidler - Clemens as CF depth at this point.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

First time through the order he has an 8.68 ERA, compared to 1.46 for the second time. 

Nervous? Not mentally ready? Overly excited?

Gotta fix those “first time through” numbers! Sports psychologist? The coaches aren’t getting through to him.

Once he gets past the 2nd inning he seems more focussed and location gets sharper. Not terribly unusual for a starter but his runs allowed early are tough to accept.

[CRF]

Very nice win. Good performance by Zebby. Pretty good D and throws by Martin in right. That was a great catch by Buxton, but I honestly didn't think he hit the wall all that hard. He's done way worse than that and been fine. Hopefully, he's gonna be ok. He's as strong as an ox, but he's pretty fragile. Let's win today and tomorrow and get closer to .500. 

[Craig Arko]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

What is Matthews’ first inning ERA? It seems he always gets hit in the first inning and settles after that.

Brad Radke was like that.

[DJL44]

47 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

I’ve heard zero here about Wallner - is he showing any signs of improvement?

Culpepper & Lewis would be welcomed in another few days - I don’t see Culpepper though….. Gray - Arcia - Kreidler are stringing together “adequacy”.

Maybe Royce will take Outman’s Roster spot before they ravel Monday?

With Byron buried up they may continue the agony of Outman on the roster…….. I’d ride with Kreidler - Clemens as CF depth at this point.

Royce just took Outman’s roster spot.

Wallner has only recently started hitting.

[karcherd]

38 minutes ago, CRF said:

Very nice win. Good performance by Zebby. Pretty good D and throws by Martin in right. That was a great catch by Buxton, but I honestly didn't think he hit the wall all that hard. He's done way worse than that and been fine. Hopefully, he's gonna be ok. He's as strong as an ox, but he's pretty fragile. Let's win today and tomorrow and get closer to .500. 

It was Shelton's decision to pull him, Buxton wanted to stay in the game per Shelton.  So I don't know if calling him fragile is fair in this instance.  

[karcherd]

38 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

Brad Radke was like that.

A lot of the top pitchers you have to get to in the first inning or your night is over.  It takes some pitchers an inning to figure what is working and what isn't.  Matthews isn't in that group by any means, but if he continues to right the ship quickly he will be fine.