Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins
· Major League Baseball
6 - 5
Royals hold off Twins 6-5 after star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. exits with sore knee
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. left in the seventh with right knee soreness after going 0 for 4. He struck out three times one day after driving in the go-ahead run in the ninth.
Minnesota scored four times in the ninth inning Sunday, including Josh Bell's three-run homer, before Lucas Erceg retired Brooks Lee with a runner on second for the final out.
Marte launched his first home run in his first season with Kansas City, capping a four-run fifth and helping the Royals finish a 5-5 trip that started with three straight losses at Texas.
Cameron (3-4) allowed just three hits and an unearned run. He struck out seven, including all three batters in a shutdown fifth.
Kody Clemens singled off Cameron to begin the second and stole second. Clemens advanced on Witt's fielding error and scored on Ryan Kreidler's forceout.
Twins rookie Connor Prielipp (2-4) went 4 1/3 innings in his ninth start, allowing two runs and four hits, including back-to-back doubles by Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Loftin that tied it 1-all in the fourth.
Andrew Morris entered and gave up a single to Lane Thomas before Witt struck out looking after a failed ABS challenge for the second out. Maikel Garcia followed with a go-ahead single before Marte homered to make it 5-1.
Pasquantino singled in the eighth before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Carter Jensen.
Making his second big league appearance, Royals reliever Beck Way was charged with four runs in the ninth. He got just one out and allowed Bell's sixth homer that cut it to 6-4.
Erceg gave up Victor Caratini's RBI single that pulled the Twins within a run before retiring Lee on a fly to left field for his 12th save in 18 opportunities.
The Royals will start RHP Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.32 ERA) in Tuesday's opener against RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-6, 4.10) and the visiting Texas Rangers.
How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins?
- TV Channel: Royals at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Scoring Summary
 |
9th Inning | Lee flied out to left. |
|
9th Inning | Gray singled to left, Caratini to second. |
|
9th Inning | Gray hit for Martin |
|
9th Inning | Caratini singled to center, Larnach scored. |
|
9th Inning | Caratini hit for Jackson |
|
9th Inning | Keaschall lined out to center. |
Statistics
 KC |
 MIN |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 5 | Ground Balls | 11 |
| 15 | Strikeouts | 8 |
| 6 | Runs Batted In | 5 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 9 | Hits | 8 |
| 0 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
| 3 | Walks | 1 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 6 | Runs | 5 |
| 0 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
| 1 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 35 | At Bats | 37 |
| 1 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 12 | Runners Left On Base | 11 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 1 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 2 | Doubles | 1 |
| 16 | Fly Balls | 18 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 166 | Pitches | 151 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch At Bats | 3 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 2 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
| 14 | Total Bases | 12 |
| 39 | Plate Appearances | 38 |
| 162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 3 | Extra Base Hits | 2 |
| 4.6 | Runs Created | 2.9 |
| .257 | Batting Average | .216 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .667 |
| .400 | Slugging Percentage | .324 |
| .229 | Secondary Average | .162 |
| .308 | On Base Percentage | .237 |
| .708 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .561 |
| 0.3 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.6 |
| 4.6 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 2.7 |
| 40.0 | Batter Rating | 34.0 |
| 35.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 37.0 |
| 0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
| 4.26 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.97 |
| .143 | Isolated Power | .108 |
| 0.20 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.13 |
| .077 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .026 |
| -.029 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | -.054 |
| 12.0 | Runs Produced | 10.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
| 0.5 | Patience Ratio | 0.3 |
| 0.4 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
| 84.8 | MLB Rating | 80.3 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 19,876 | Capacity:
2026 American League Central Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/chw.png" class="logo-micro">Chicago | 55 | 49 | .529 | - | W1 |
| <img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/cle.png" class="logo-micro">Cleveland | 54 | 53 | .505 | 2.5 | L5 |
| <img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/min.png" class="logo-micro">Minnesota | 53 | 54 | .495 | 3.5 | W2 |
| <img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/det.png" class="logo-micro">Detroit | 50 | 56 | .472 | 6 | L2 |
| <img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png" class="logo-micro">Kansas City | 45 | 62 | .421 | 11.5 | W2 |