Twins 5, Royals 4: Another Walk-Off Win for Brooks Lee and the Twins!

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (81 pitches, 57 strikes (70%))
Home Runs: Harrison Bader (5), Kody Clemens (4)
Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (.406), Clemens (.156), Jhoan Duran (.134)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Twins looked to take another game against their division rivals and they sent young Zebby Matthews to the mound to get the job done. The Royals countered with Twins nemesis Michael "Offspeed" Wacha. What ensued was an odd mix of a pitchers' duel, opportunistic small ball, and bomba squad heroics.

Zebby Strikes Them Out, but Takes Too Long to Do So
Matthews struck out five Royals in the first two innings alone, but his pitch count began to climb in the process. By the time the third inning rolled around, the warning signs were mounting for the Twins youngster, and with two outs in the third Vinnie Pasquantino laced a single and the immortal Salvador Perez walked to load the bases. The red hot Maikel Garcia came to the plate, and by the time his single landed out in right field it was 2-0 Kansas City. Even more importantly for Matthews and the Twins, he had thrown 72 pitches in just three innings. This led to early bullpen usage and eclipsed the fact that Zebby had notched a career-high nine strikeouts in only four innings.

This meant that Justin Topa needed to enter the game in the top of the fifth inning, and he walked the lead-off man Jonathan India. Bobby Witt Jr. struck out for the third time in the game, but Pasquantino did not miss, crushing an RBI double to left to make it 3-0 Royals. Before a packed Target Field could even get angsty, Perez singled in Pasquantino to make a laugher potentially appear. Two more singles loaded the bases with two outs, but Topa managed to recover enough to close out the inning and leave the ballgame at a reachable 4-0 score.

Rally on Wacha
The Twins looked to ride that momentum into the run column in the bottom of the fifth, and Harrison Bader went first-pitch hunting to do just that, crushing a solo home run off the second deck in left to get the crowd on their feet and the Twins back in the game at 4-1.

Wacha followed up by hitting Willi Castro and giving up a single to Christian Vazquez. Trevor Larnach moved the runners over with a grounder to first, and with two outs and two strikes, Ty France made Wacha and the Royals pay with a two-run single to make it a 4-3 ballgame

Kody Clemens is Him
Jorge Alcala wiggled his way out of a jam in the top of the sixth inning to keep it a one-run game. Kody Clemens led off the bottom of the sixth against Wacha and sent the Target Field faithful into a frenzy with another moon shot to the seats in right. All tied, 4-4.

More Walk-Off Magic?
After the bullpens traded scoreless innings with mixed levels of drama, the ninth inning brought drama enough for an entire game. Jhoan Duran faced Witt Jr. to start the inning, and the superstar Royal finally delivered, and then took a couple of bases to make the go-ahead run a threat right from the get-go. Strikeouts kept Duran and the Twins alive, and with the bases loaded and two outs, Drew Waters weakly grounded out to Duran to end the threat and to set up another walk-off scenario.

Carlos Correa pinch-hit for DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to start the bottom of the ninth, and he worked a seven-pitch walk off of lefty reliever Daniel Lynch IV. Vazquez flared a ball into the outfield, and it looked like a potential hit until Witt Jr. did his best Correa impression for the out. Ryan Jeffers came in to bat for Larnach with the lefty on the mound and he fought his way to another seven-pitch walk to put the winning run at second with only one out. This sent the Royals to reach back into the bullpen for righty Steven Cruz to face last night's hero France. One pitch later, there were runners at second and third, but two out as France grounded out to the pitcher. Brooks Lee finally broke an 0-12 slump in the bottom of the eighth with a single, and now he looked to be the hero of the afternoon. Lee worked the count full, and then he sent 30,000 plus home happy by hitting it where they weren't for a 5-4 victory!

What’s Next?
The Twins look to sweep another series at home on Sunday against the rival Royals. Twins righty Bailey Ober (4-1, 3.68 ERA) looks to continue to re-write his script against the Royals, and he will face Kansas City ace lefty Kris Bubic (5-2, 1.47 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

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