The Kansas City Royals left the bases loaded in the ninth inning, three of the 15 runners they stranded as the Minnesota Twins tied the game twice and won it 5-3 Sunday, Aug. 10 at Target Field with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning.
The Royals were in prime position to strike early with a leadoff walk and single, but the Twins successfully challenged that Kody Clemens made an unassisted double play, catching a line drive and then tagging first to get Maikel Garcia out. A walk to Salvador Perez set up Adam Frazier to single home Mike Yastrzemski. A leadoff walk in the bottom of the third set up Ryan Fitzgerald for his first major league hit, a two-run shot to right field that gave the Twins the lead. The Royals struck back in the top of the seventh when after Garcia’s single, Vinnie Pasquantino bolted his 20th home run of the year to take a 3-2 lead. The Twins would tie it with two outs in the eighth, when Austin Martin’s triple was followed by a Ryan Jeffers single.
The Royals claimed a two-out double in the top of the ninth, then drew an intentional walk followed by a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. However, Adam Frazier was coaxed into a fly ball to right field to end the inning. The Royals claimed a walk in each the 10th and 11th innings, but were unable to advance the leadoff runner in either frame. After the Royals granted an intentional walk to Clemens, they achieved a double play when Austin Martin was tagged attempting to advance to third on a lineout. However, three pitches later Carlos Estévez would give up the game-winner, a two-run home run to Luke Keaschall.
Estévez was tagged with his fourth loss of the year, while starter Ryan Bergert allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out eight in 5.2 innings. Michael Tonkin pitched both extra innings to get his first win of the season.
The Royals return home trailing Detroit by 9.5 games in the AL Central while four games behind the Yankees for the third wild card. The Washington Nationals will visit for a three-game series, with Bailey Falter making his Kauffman Stadium debut as a Royal. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m., with pregame at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.