Twins 3, Royals 2: Royce Lewis Walks Off the Royals!

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K (102 pitches, 68 strikes (67%))
Home Runs: N/A
Top 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (0.85), Josh Bell (0.16), Brooks Lee (0.15)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Taj Bradley's first win of 2026 came at the expense of the Royals, and he was hoping that his 10th win of the season would close a circle. Bradley's counterpart on the mound was veteran righty Seth Lugo, and his last start against the Twins wasn't as clean: he surrendered five runs over five innings. The Royals came in winners of seven of 10 since the All-Star break, while the Twins were one win away from reaching that elusive .500 mark again. T-minus six days until the trade deadline, it’s time to take care of business at home.

Bradley Deals, but So Does Lugo
I'm not sure you can compare the approaches of these two starters, other than by saying they both were effective. Bradley stayed in the high 90s through the first five innings, with seven strikeouts and a clean slate on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Lugo looked like a possessed Zack Greinke against the Twins lineup, inducing double play after double play while ranging between the mid-70s and the low 90s. Kody Clemens finally found some exit velocity in the bottom of the fourth, mashing a double off the wall in right. Josh Bell kept doing what Josh Bell does. His ground ball found the center field grass, plating Clemens for a 1-0 Twins lead.

Byron Buxton Forced to Exit Early Again
Before the ink had dried on that lead, Alan Roden was trotting out to right field and Luke Keaschall was moving to center field. Byron Buxton's hip flared up again, and the trade season ramifications all flared up, too. Buxton hasn't been able to run full speed since his return, and his ability to stay in the lineup will be key to the rest of this season. The silver lining? Would Roden get another hero moment at Target Field? Unfortunately, the Twins were going to need one.

Weak Contact, butthe Royals Will Take It
In the top of the sixth, Bradley came back to Earth the hard way. He walked No. 9 hitter Josh Rojas to start the inning, and then Lane Thomas check-swung a single to right to put runners on the corners with one out. The Twins knew that something was up, and they held a meeting to discuss everyone's role should the Royals attempt a double-steal. Thomas indeed headed for second, and Ryan Jeffers followed the plan by throwing to second. Unfortunately, Jeffers's throw bounced to Ryan Kreidler, and Kreidler's throw to the plate had no chance of catching Rojas. With the game tied and Thomas at second, Bradley induced Salvador Perez to hit a floater to right-center. In typical "the Twins need a win" fashion, though, the bloop fell in front of Roden to put the Royals ahead 2-1. Bradley's night ended with a whimper, and a desperate plea to his teammates to save this from being the best-pitched loss of the Twins' season.

The Twins offense immediately tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the sixth, but with runners on the corners and only one out, Victor Caratini hit into the fourth Twins double play of the first six innings. "Twin killing" has never felt more real.

When All Hope Seems Lost...
The Twins bullpen did what they've been doing, posting goose eggs on the scoreboard to keep the flailing bats in the ballgame. Brooks Lee got a one-out double in the seventh, but no one—not even Roden—could knock him in. Jeffers worked the count full and laced a lead-off single to left to start the eighth. Austin Martin pinch-ran, but Clemens promptly grounded into the fifth Twin-killer of the night. Seriously. 

Caratini got his second hit of the game to lead off the ninth, and it looked like Luke Keaschall had saved the day with a hooking double to left. Isaac Collins ran and dove and stole all hope from Twins Territory, however, and Caratini had to scamper back to first. Lee worked a walk on a full count to advance the tying run into scoring position with one out, but Kreidler tried to do too much and went down swinging. Royce Lewis had entered the game to pinch-hit for Trevor Larnach in the bottom of the seventh, which meant he now had to face righty Alex Lange. The writing was on the wall for another lackluster Twins loss. Then Lewis's oppo-blast hit that wall and bounced away into a game-winning two-run double! Walk-off winner! What did you think was gonna happen?

What’s Next?
The Twins look to keep the good vibes rolling against the no-longer-surging Royals. The Twins hope that the healthy, playoff-ace version of Joe Ryan (6-6, 3.38 ERA) will take the mound, while Kansas City will also send dear old friend Randy Dobnak to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Morris	0	26	0	0	0	26
Adams	14	0	15	0	11	40
Rojas	0	56	0	0	0	56
Funderburk	12	0	17	0	27	56
Rogers	0	30	0	0	0	30
Nance	0	13	15	0	0	28
Anderson	17	0	0	0	13	30
Gomez	0	8	0	0	0	8

 

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[USAFChief]

That was a really frustrat....FUN WIN!!1

Edited July 29 by USAFChief

[Vanimal46]

Hawt taek: It’s okay to cheer for Royce Lewis again… It’s getting a little weird where some are almost wishing for a Miguel Sano type of demise for him. 

[stringer bell]

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

[GNess]

After grounding into double plays almost every inning the Lewis game winning triple was a thing of beauty.

[HarmonK03]

9 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

It's Jenkins time.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Cory Provus' call of Lewis's triple was a classic. "The Twins win. the Twins win."

[LastOnePicked]

Yet another trademark Season-Saving Victory by Shelton's Hellions.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Oh man, Royce is so much fun to cheer for. Good to have good vibes. 

Also fun to see Bradley when he is on. He can be so dominant.

The double plays today felt like back-breakers. Sometimes that happens. Glad they pulled it out.

Fun win for sure. Keep it going! My hope is Joe Ryan looks solid tomorrow. Doesn't even need to be spectacular, just solid. 

[Peter]

Wow!!!’walk off win!!! 😬😬😬💪💪💪2 back in division and 1/2 game back of wild card!!! 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The Twins can win this division. I predict they will.  They are peaking and playing the Royals. Stomp ,em Twins.  Then they need to break even against the Phillies, Braves and Brewers. No easy task, but doable. 

[USAFChief]

25 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

 

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

I doubt it. As far as I know Who only plays first.

[IndianaTwin]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I doubt it. As far as I know Who only plays first.

Yeah, but with a short bench and the emphasis on positional flexibility…

[mnfireman]

51 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

Gray or Gonzalez. Outside possibility of Wallner.

[ashbury]

39 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Cory Provus' call of Lewis's triple was a classic. "The Twins win. the Twins win."

Harry Caray, but sounding less drunk.

[Colbeh]

Yes Royce, yes!

I know Royce hasn't been killing the ball and popping off like what everyone thought he would be years ago. But he's been almost boringly consistly good since his call up.

Being healthy and getting on base nearly every game he plays in is more important than the hot/cold hes done before. Lets hope he continues to get better.

[ashbury]

29 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I doubt it. As far as I know Who only plays first.

Because, we're talking about center field...

[1985Fan]

Always great to watch a win. Dominant pitching by Bradley and the BP. This team doesn’t hang their heads when they’re down. 
A couple minor complaints. If Martin is going to pinch run, he should be stealing or attempting to steal. Would have kept them out of the DP that followed. Base stealing has really gone down overall for Twins and Martin hasn’t developed into a good base stealer. 
Hitting into five DP’s should have triggered some SB attempts or even hit and run. Might’ve kept them out of one or more of those DP’s. 

[Mortimerkenny21]

The game had that feeling, here we go again. The bullpen, letting us down a lot more then we wanted the first half of this year. But they are fighting tooth and nail for scoreless innings. The guys we leaned on pulled it together, and now we have some other RP with days offs now and a bit of rest. Bradley is a blessing to the team, and so fun to watch Royce deliver the swat that sends us into celebration and .500... please build on that boys!

[Western SD Fan]

54 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

Of the players we are all thinking about (Jenkins or Culpepper), a 40-man roster move would have to be made.  I don't think that would be difficult as I'm not sure Paredes is expected to be back this season so he could be transferred to the 60-day IL.  Another 40-man option would be to DFA Go since he is currently on a 10-game suspension anyway. 

Since we are still slogging through all of the OF or converted OF that need playing time, I'm not sure Jenkins will be brought up prior to the trade deadline.  We have Larnach, Keaschall, Martin, Roden, and Clemens could cover the OF and not enough playing time for all of them already.  My preference would be Culpepper as I think he would bring a bit more offense and allow Kreidler to be a defensive replacement in the OF or at SS with spot starts here and there since he has deserved the playing time.

What I actually think will happen, the Twins will do the most Twins thing ever and call up Gray to replace Buxton.  Someone there will be convinced that we need a LH IF bat and he is already on the 40-man so a corresponding move wouldn't have to be made.

[mnfireman]

5 minutes ago, 1985Fan said:

A couple minor complaints. If Martin is going to pinch run, he should be stealing or attempting to steal. Would have kept them out of the DP that followed. Base stealing has really gone down overall for Twins and Martin hasn’t developed into a good base stealer. 

The count was 0-2 and Clemens had swung at 3 out of 4 pitches so far. If you put the steal on you almost force Clemens to take the pitch or risk Martin getting doubled off of first if there's a line drive. You also don't hit-and-run on 0-2, so don't try that argument... 

[Parfigliano]

5 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

Of the players we are all thinking about (Jenkins or Culpepper), a 40-man roster move would have to be made.  I don't think that would be difficult as I'm not sure Paredes is expected to be back this season so he could be transferred to the 60-day IL.  Another 40-man option would be to DFA Go since he is currently on a 10-game suspension anyway. 

Since we are still slogging through all of the OF or converted OF that need playing time, I'm not sure Jenkins will be brought up prior to the trade deadline.  We have Larnach, Keaschall, Martin, Roden, and Clemens could cover the OF and not enough playing time for all of them already.  My preference would be Culpepper as I think he would bring a bit more offense and allow Kreidler to be a defensive replacement in the OF or at SS with spot starts here and there since he has deserved the playing time.

What I actually think will happen, the Twins will do the most Twins thing ever and call up Gray to replace Buxton.  Someone there will be convinced that we need a LH IF bat and he is already on the 40-man so a corresponding move wouldn't have to be made.

I hope not Gray.

[1985Fan]

15 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

The count was 0-2 and Clemens had swung at 3 out of 4 pitches so far. If you put the steal on you almost force Clemens to take the pitch or risk Martin getting doubled off of first if there's a line drive. You also don't hit-and-run on 0-2, so don't try that argument... 

Martin pinch ran for Jeffers with the count 0-0. He can steal right away. Hit and run was an idea for some of the other situations, not necessarily with Clemons AB. Just a thought to try to stay out of DP’s. I watched part of Brewers-Giants game tonight. Murphy pulled off a hit and run. I know that’s a rare play in today’s game. 

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

Winning the division may or may not be easier but it certainly will be better! 

Regarding Buxton...they'll probably sit him for a couple of days before they decide. 

[knothole61]

Fabulous victory...that's the kind of gritty win (down to the last out) that teams who are serious about making a run after the ASB tend to come up with. It's getting fun boys--and please keep the foot on the pedal.

Those interested in splendid defensive efforts should check out the last play of the Guardians-Reds nightcap. The Reds' centerfielder makes an amazing catch while pressed into the padding of the outfield wall. Man, talk about concentration! 

[UK Twin]

Twins have to add pitching. Add a couple of relievers and a starter via trade and we have a great shot of making the play offs. 

Put Buck back on the IL and get him back to where he was before the All Star break. Time for Jenkins to show what he can do.

[DJL44]

7 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Half a game behind Cleveland and two back of Chicago. I think winning the division is the easier way to the postseason.

I am going to speculate thst Buxton is IL bound again. Who replaces him? 

Most likely Tristan Gray

[DJL44]

6 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

Of the players we are all thinking about (Jenkins or Culpepper), a 40-man roster move would have to be made.  I don't think that would be difficult as I'm not sure Paredes is expected to be back this season so he could be transferred to the 60-day IL.  Another 40-man option would be to DFA Go since he is currently on a 10-game suspension anyway. 

Since we are still slogging through all of the OF or converted OF that need playing time, I'm not sure Jenkins will be brought up prior to the trade deadline.  We have Larnach, Keaschall, Martin, Roden, and Clemens could cover the OF and not enough playing time for all of them already.  My preference would be Culpepper as I think he would bring a bit more offense and allow Kreidler to be a defensive replacement in the OF or at SS with spot starts here and there since he has deserved the playing time.

What I actually think will happen, the Twins will do the most Twins thing ever and call up Gray to replace Buxton.  Someone there will be convinced that we need a LH IF bat and he is already on the 40-man so a corresponding move wouldn't have to be made.

They are not adding anyone to the roster before the trade deadline. They are not adding Culpepper or Jenkins to the roster to sit on the bench  and get optioned back to AAA in 10 days. You will see Gray, Fedko or Gonzalez - most likely Gray because he doesn’t need everyday playing time.

[HarmonK03]

3 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

They are not adding anyone to the roster before the trade deadline. They are not adding Culpepper or Jenkins to the roster to sit on the bench  and get optioned back to AAA in 10 days. You will see Gray, Fedko or Gonzalez - most likely Gray because he doesn’t need everyday playing time.

Why would you sit Culpepper or Jenkins, who is blocking them. Kreidler should not be starting over Culpepper if he is up here.  And if Buxton is put on the IL and Jenkins is called up, you have an open spot in the outfield.  The only reason they would sit would be mismanagement by Shelton. 

Now if they want to see how the roster shakes out before the trade deadline before adding anyone to the 40 man roster I get it.  But they could easily DFA Fedko, they have already determined he is organizational filler and could be moved if a 40 man spot is needed.

[HarmonK03]

That was a great win last night.  I was at the game and it was fun to see the many Royals fans go home unhappy.

Lewis needs to be in there everyday.  He is definitely taking better AB's, pitchers are trying to get him to chase that low outside pitch and for the most part he is not chasing.  Eventually they are going to have start pitching him more.  I was glad to see him get the hit in the ninth inning.  He feeds off good vibes and hopefully helps him hit another gear.

If they want Caratini's bat in the lineup, it can't be at the expense of Lewis.  Bell has been coming back to earth, sit him more if needed.

The play on Perez's single that scored their second run by Roden was not good.  He took a poor route and did not aggressively go after it with Keaschall coming in behind.  Not sure he could have gotten to it, but the effort did not look good.

Lewis really picked up Kreidler.  That at bat by Kreidler was brutal, he saw one strike and was swinging at everything and the pitches were at his ankles.

They have to make a decision on Buxton, I know they want him in there, but they can't keep playing short handed.  Call up Jenkins, now is the perfect time and maybe he might just add a needed spark to the lineup.