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Twins 4, Royals 3: Kody Clemens Turns Disaster Into Miracle With Walk-Off Grand Slam

Sam Caulder
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Sam Caulder FCL Twins

Sam Caulder

Twins Daily Contributor
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Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober - 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 3 K (79 pitches, 52 strikes (66% strikes))
Home Runs: Kody Clemens
Top 3 WPA: Kody Clemens (0.84!!), Ryan Jeffers (0.02), Andrew Morris (0.02)
Win Probability Chart

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The Twins entered Thursday afternoon's series finale against the Royals looking to secure a series victory after splitting the first two games. For eight innings, it looked like they were headed for another frustrating offensive performance. Then everything changed.

Minnesota managed just one hit through the first eight innings against Royals left-hander Noah Cameron and entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-0. But after the team loaded the bases with two outs, Kody Clemens delivered the biggest swing of the Twins' season, launching a walk-off grand slam into the right-center field seats to give Minnesota a stunning 4-3 victory. After looking completely lifeless at the plate for most of the afternoon, the Twins somehow found a way to steal the series.

NOAH CAMERON SHUTS DOWN THE TWINS AGAIN
Coming into Thursday, Cameron had already dominated Minnesota twice this season. Unfortunately for the Twins, the third meeting looked a lot like the first two. Austin Martin worked a seven-pitch leadoff walk to begin the game, but was immediately erased trying to steal second base. From there, Cameron settled into a rhythm that the Twins never disrupted. The Royals' left-hander faced the minimum through five innings, allowing just the one walk while Minnesota failed to record a hit.

Even when the Twins finally created their first real scoring opportunity in the sixth, Cameron escaped unscathed. Brooks Lee worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, before Ryan Kreidler dropped down a swinging bunt that advanced Lee into scoring position. After a wild pitch moved him to third with one out, it appeared Minnesota finally had a chance to cut into the deficit. Instead, Cameron got Austin Martin to ground out to shortstop, stranding Lee 90 feet from home plate.

Ryan Jeffers finally broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the seventh, but once again the Twins couldn't capitalize. Cameron finished his afternoon with another dominant outing against Minnesota, keeping them scoreless and handing the game over to Kansas City's bullpen. Big mistake. Huge.

BAILEY OBER DESERVED BETTER
While the Twins couldn't solve Cameron, Bailey Ober quietly turned in another quality performance of his own. The right-hander worked around a pair of early walks before running into trouble in the third inning. John Rave lined a two-out double off the wall in right-center, bringing Jac Caglianone to the plate.

On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Caglianone hammered a slider right down the middle well over the wall in right field, for a two-run homer. Justin Morneau's reaction on the television broadcast said it all, simply blurting out "wow" as the ball disappeared. That proved to be the only major mistake Ober made all afternoon.

The Royals added another run in the fifth, after Rave collected his second double of the game. A misplayed relay allowed Carter Jensen to score all the way from first, extending Kansas City's lead to 3-0.

Outside of those two innings, Ober was excellent. He finished six innings while throwing just 79 pitches, consistently working ahead in counts and giving the Twins every opportunity to climb back into the game. Unfortunately, much like Cameron on the other side, he didn't receive much offensive support.

DEFENSE AND THE BULLPEN KEPT MINNESOTA CLOSE
Even while trailing, the Twins continued making plays that kept the deficit from growing. Alex Jackson made an outstanding sliding stop down the first base line to rob Carter Jensen of extra bases in the third inning. Kody Clemens answered with a sliding catch in right field during the fourth, while Luke Keaschall made one of his own in center field to take away a hit from Michael Massey in the sixth—although he had to slide mostly because he initially misread the ball and took a poor route to it.

After Ober exited, the bullpen did its job, as well. Taylor Rogers stranded two runners in the seventh after Lane Thomas was frozen on a sinker for the final out. Andrew Morris followed with a clean eighth that ended with a perfectly turned 4-6-3 double play, before Yoendrys Gómez stranded runners at the corners in the ninth by blowing a 99-MPH fastball past Carter Jensen. Every inning the bullpen kept Kansas City off the board gave the offense another chance. As it turned out, they only needed one.

KODY CLEMENS DELIVERS THE WALK-OFF OF THE YEAR
Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Twins needed three runs just to force extra innings. Trevor Larnach struck out to begin the inning, and Victor Caratini lined out, leaving Minnesota down to its final out. Then the rally began.

Jeffers was hit by a pitch to extend the game, Royce Lewis followed with a single into center, and Josh Bell worked a terrific at-bat that ended in a walk to load the bases. That brought Royals manager Matt Quatraro out of the dugout to make one final pitching change, calling upon left-hander Matt Strahm to face Clemens. Big mistake. Huge.

After falling behind in the count, Clemens got a two-strike slider left over the heart of the plate and absolutely crushed it into the seats in right-center field. Just like that, a game that looked completely over became one of the Twins' most memorable wins of the season—or any season since 2023, for that matter.

The grand slam gave Minnesota a 4-3 walk-off victory, marking the second time in this series the Twins walked off the Royals. For eight innings, the offense couldn't get anything going. In the ninth, they saved their best swings for last.

The Twins finish the homestand back at .500 after securing the series victory, and if there was ever a win capable of injecting some life into a club, this certainly feels like it. It also made for a pretty memorable 56th birthday present for manager Derek Shelton.

What’s Next?
The Twins will travel west to begin a three-game weekend series in Seattle against the Mariners. Zebby Matthews will toe the rubber for the Twins, and he’ll face off against right-hander Bryce Miller. First pitch is set for 9:10 PM CT.

Postgame Interviews
Coming soon!

Bullpen Availability Chart
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UK Twin Draft Eligible

UK Twin

Verified Member
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Cash. That's all it took to get Clemens. Thank you Phillies. What a moment, what a swing. Down to the last strike as well facing a LHP. One of the biggest moments at Target Field that's going to live long in the memory. Not a very well played series by the Twins but got out of it with a series win and a 4-2 home stand. 

Big series coming up in Seattle. 

jmlease1 Cedar Rapids Kernels

jmlease1

Verified Member
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It's an excellent win, and an important one. They got done what they needed to on the homestand (a sweep would have been nice, but as long as they keep winning series they are in this thing).

Be nice if they could have done it the easy way, but you don't get extra points for piling up early runs.

Maybe this gets the offense going, though. It's been looking frustrating as hell out there lately for the good guys at the plate.

arby58 FCL Twins

arby58

Verified Member
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16 minutes ago, Glorybound said:

Amazing ending for sure. With the exception of two swings of the bat the Twins were completely outplayed this series. Time to wake the rest of the bats up.

Yeah, offense is quiet. A bat like Wallner makes more sense than Gray.

arby58 FCL Twins

arby58

Verified Member
Posted
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25 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

Cash. That's all it took to get Clemens. Thank you Phillies. What a moment, what a swing. Down to the last strike as well facing a LHP. One of the biggest moments at Target Field that's going to live long in the memory. Not a very well played series by the Twins but got out of it with a series win and a 4-2 home stand. 

Big series coming up in Seattle. 

For all the complaints about dumpster diving, it’s yielded Clemens and Gomez.

Dman Wichita Wind Surge

Dman

Verified Member
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Baseball is crazy., Twins has no business winning that game and yet they did. 

Still it felt like the Royals did everything right in this one.  Starting pitcher goes 8 and gives up 1 measly hit.  All their bullpen has to do is not let more than 2 runs score and they win.  They managed two quick outs and got to two strikes multiple times to try and get that last out.  They brought in a lefty, lefty matchup to try and seal it and it all failed.  Fair or not it just goes to show you can play the odds and have the lead until the last out and still get beat.

For as much as I doubt this team there does seem to be some baseball magic with this group. 

spanman2 Draft Eligible

spanman2

Verified Member
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I'd take two arms for the pen...still the area that needs most improvement.  Imagine if the starting staff had an injury free Pablo...it's time to ADD to the roster.  Keep Jeffers and Ryan and lets go...

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

Old-Timey Member
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I think offense is the biggest need. I'm not sure how to fix that, though. First base and SS are the biggest possibilities. Culpeper is ready or almost, so he'll be up in three or so weeks. That leaves first. Maybe right field or left field. 

I'd probably trade Bell, move Trevor to DH and put Jenkins or Roden or GG in left. But I didn't think that fixed things enough. I'd also consider a 2b and move Clemens to first. Can't be hard to outhit Lewis. 

Definitely, if they are buying, a mid level prosprctt for a RP is happening. 

Linus Wichita Wind Surge

Linus

Verified Member
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That’s quite an ending. Here is a shudder to think idea…..the Twins were two swings away from being swept by the Royals.  Baseball. 

bjorks College Ball

bjorks

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

It shouldn't cost too much to pry Ohtani and Betts away from the Dodgers.

In defense of trading for them and asking Uncle Tommy for $900 million over the next decade, if the LA series showed anything, the stadium will be full with Ohtani! 

I didn't know his nickname was the Missile due to dad, as someone else eluded about all it cost the Twins was Cash in Twins Territory it should be KCC - Kody Cash Clemens

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