Twins waste Devin Smeltzer's gem, drop series opener vs. Royals
Devin Smeltzer was dominant in his return from St. Paul, but the Kansas City Royals scored three runs in the eighth inning to propel them to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Smeltzer was filling in for Joe Ryan, who was scheduled to start before being placed on the COVID-19 list on Wednesday. The left-hander responded by limiting the Royals to just two hits over seven shutout innings while striking out six batters.
Despite throwing just 80 pitches on the night, Smeltzer was pulled in the eighth inning with the Twins holding a 2-0 lead. Tyler Duffey came out of the bullpen and the Royals took advantage, using RBI doubles from Whit Merrifield and Bobby Witt Jr. to take a 3-2 lead.
The Twins mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the eighth inning, loading the bases with straight singles. Scott Barlow came on with the bases loaded and nobody out but struck out Jose Miranda and Nick Gordon before forcing Max Kepler to ground out to first base to end the inning.
Byron Buxton ended an 0-for-30 slump with an infield single to lead off the ninth, but the Twins couldn't get the tying run home from third base as Kansas City snapped a six-game losing streak.
The Twins will look to even the series on Friday night when Bailey Ober takes the mound against Brad Keller.
