MINNEAPOLIS — Down to their final strike after being held hitless into the seventh inning, the Minnesota Twins pulled off a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, capped by a game-ending grand slam from Kody Clemens.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Twins trailing 3-0, Royals closer Lucas Erceg retired the first two batters before losing his command. Erceg hit Ryan Jeffers with a 2-0 pitch, surrendered a single to Royce Lewis, and walked Josh Bell to load the bases. Kansas City turned to reliever Matt Strahm, but Clemens greeted him by driving an 0-2 slider into the flower box above right-center field.
The dramatic shot marked Clemens’ second career grand slam and just the sixth walk-off grand slam in Twins franchise history—the team’s first since Brian Dozier accomplished the feat in 2018.
The late-game heroics wiped away a brilliant performance by Royals starter Noah Cameron. Cameron tossed eight shutout innings in the longest outing of his career, keeping Minnesota hitless until Jeffers led off the seventh inning with a clean single to right-center field. Cameron finished with seven strikeouts while allowing just one hit and two walks over 97 pitches, extending his individual scoreless streak to 16 consecutive innings.
Kansas City built its early lead on a two-run homer by Jac Caglianone off Twins starter Bailey Ober in the third inning, followed by an unearned run in the fifth. Ober surrendered four hits and two walks while striking out six across six innings.
Twins reliever Yoendrys Gómez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the victory, helping Minnesota (55-55) improve to 10-2-1 over its last 13 series. Meanwhile, the last-place Royals (46-64) suffered a tough setback after building momentum with eight wins in 13 games following the All-Star break.
Up Next
Kansas City Royals: Begin a three-game series at Colorado on Friday. Right-hander Michael Wacha (5-7, 3.60 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals against Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4, 4.69 ERA).
