Make it Official! Twins 7, Royals 6: Bats Back Paddack

Box Score
SP: Chris Paddack 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 88 pitches, 54 strikes, 8 whiffs
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers 2 (12)
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa 0.30, Ryan Jeffers 0.22, Max Kepler 0.15

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Paddack Welcomed by Pasquantino
Starting Thursday for the Twins, Chris Paddack was looking for smoother sailing than Kansas City afforded their son, Bailey Ober. Walking leadoff batter Maikel García wasn’t ideal, but he did get Bobby Witt Jr. to fly out. Vinnie Pasquantino then stepped in, healthy and back in the lineup following his collision on Tuesday with Byron Buxton. Paddack flipped a curveball that hung, and the Royals first baseman sent it 417 feet into the right field bleachers. 

Manuel Margot singled to respond in the bottom half for the Twins, and Carlos Correa nearly had one of his own, but Witt Jr. ranged and made a tremendous throw to get him. Outs from Ryan Jeffers and José Miranda stranded the leadoff hitter-cum-baserunner at second base.

Not to be outdone defensively, Carlos Santana flashed his athleticism in the top of the second inning. While his bat has yet to produce consistent results, he’s been every bit as billed in the field.

Witt Wallops One, Jeffers Answers
As he has done all series against the Twins, Witt Jr. made his mark on this game, crushing a double deep into the left-center field gap. García came around to score for the second time and gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead. An MJ Melendez fourth-inning solo shot made it a 4-0 game, and this one seemed to be slipping away.

Finally awakening from a slumber that they had slogged through for three innings, though, the offense showed signs of life in the bottom of the fourth. Correa reached on an error by García, before Jeffers broke out of his slump with a two-run shot into the bullpen. Keeping the party going, José Miranda and Willi Castro sandwiched a Byron Buxton out with a pair of singles, to put runners on first and second with just the one out. Kyle Farmer got plunked on a slider and the bases were loaded. Santana got gassed up on a 92-mph fastball to go down with a 3-2 count. That left things up to Christian Vázquez, and he lofted a lazy fly out to left, leaving the bases chucked.

They'd cut into Kansas City's advantage, though, and it continued the next inning. Trying out a new strategy, Jeffers decided he was going to send baseballs into the Royals bullpen and take them out before they could enter the game. Launching his second dinger of the game, recording his third multi-homer game, Minnesota’s designated hitter made it a one-run game in the fifth.

Kepler Comes Up Clutch
As Rocco Baldelli has done for some time now, he worked a platoon lineup again on Thursday. Castro flipped sides at the dish with Chris Stratton coming on in relief, and after beating out an infield single, he advanced to second on Witt Jr.’s throwing error. Max Kepler came off the bench to pinch hit for Kyle Farmer, and dumped a single to left field to drive in the tying run. 

Walks for Santana and Margot brought Correa to the plate with the bases loaded. Getting into the #WolvesBack flavor before Thursday’s Game 5 at Target Center, the Minnesota shortstop banged a triple into the corner, clearing the bases and making it a 7-4 game. Minnesota knocked Stratton out of the game and John Schreiber was tasked with getting Jeffers and stopping the damage. Walking the designated hitter, he did get Miranda to ground out, stopping the bleeding.

Jorge Says Nope to St. Paul
Coming on to protect the three-run lead, Jorge Alcala was set to remind the Twins why he has no business in St. Paul. Striking out a pair, he hit 100 mph for the first time since 2021, while getting three whiffs on just 13 pitches. Griffin Jax then DMX’d his way onto the field for the eighth inning.

With Jhoan Duran coming on to his day game experience, the Twins were in position to lock it down. He made things entirely too interesting with a walk and a throwing error for what should have been the second out, allowed a Witt Jr. single to make it a 7-6 game. Pasquantino gave Duran another opportunity to make a play, and he executed this one to end the game.

Notes
Royce Lewis started at third base and batted second today for the St. Paul Saints. Walker Jenkins led off for the FCL team and played center field. Lewis went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts while Jenkins doubled and scored going 1-for-4. Minnesota heading to play the Yankees on Monday means Lewis would have a quick trip from upstate down to the city.

What’s Next? 
Minnesota heads to Houston for a three-game series with the Astros. It kicks off a 10 day, nine game, road trip that includes stops in New York and Pittsburgh. Pitch matchups for the series against Houston are as follows:

5/31 Pablo Lopez vs Ronel Blanco
6/1 Joe Ryan vs Framber Valdez
6/2 Simeon Woods Richardson vs Hunter Brown

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet