With the score tied late, after a string of walk-off wins over the past week, it almost felt like the Twins were destined for another one on Sunday. It would have been a fitting way to cap a homestand in which the Twins had won three games in that fashion.
Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Maikel Garcia’s single off Jhoan Duran in the top of the 10th inning brought home Nick Loftin, and the Twins, who finished the day with just three hits, weren’t able to respond, falling 2-1 to the Kansas City Royals in the series finale at Target Field.
“That’s kind of the way you want to feel and that’s the way it’s been going in a lot of these tight ballgames,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We were trying to just keep putting up zeroes and keep stretching the game out and you figure we’re going to have an opportunity to win it and someone’s going to come through.”
They had the opportunity half of that.
Carlos Correa was standing on third base and Harrison Bader had stolen second to get himself into scoring position, setting things up perfectly for Saturday’s walk-off hero, Brooks Lee, to come through once again, but instead Lee grounded out to Royals (29-25) star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to end the game and the series.
The Twins (29-23) had been off and running in the first inning with Jeffers smacking a double off starter Kris Bubic to lead off the bottom of the inning and Ty France bringing him in with a single.
That was the last hit the Twins would manage until the eighth inning, after Bubic had departed.
The Royals’ starter, once a first-round draft pick, has been a revelation this season, among the best in the game after spending last season in the bullpen as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery.
And the Twins had no answers for him.
“I thought we did a really good job trying to take away his fastball and then he went and … kind of threw a bunch of slow stuff to us the rest of the day,” Jeffers said. “Tip your cap to him for flipping the plan. I’d like for us to be able to flip the plan back and continue to adjust with what he’s doing but we were in that game.”
The left-hander stymied the Twins, who struck out nine times in Bubic’s seven innings and managed just two hits. With the outing, Bubic lowered his earned-run average to 1.45 on the season.
That one-run lead held until the seventh when Bailey Ober surrendered a leadoff double to Drew Waters. Waters came around to touch home plate on Freddy Fermin’s double, which spelled the end of his day after 6 2/3 innings.
“I was hoping to keep them off the board that last inning when I was out there,” Ober said. “Thought I made the right pitch. Good pitch and he just got his bat to it and put it in a spot where we weren’t.”
That was the only blemish in Ober’s otherwise strong start, one in which he danced around trouble, giving up seven hits but only permitting the one run.
And, most importantly, he kept the Twins in the game long enough to have an opportunity for some late-inning fireworks, once again.
“We were in the lead for a majority of that game,” Jeffers said. “They got a couple of big-time knocks when we didn’t and that was the difference in the game.”
Michael Massey #19 of the Kansas City Royals tags out Trevor Larnach #9 of the Minnesota Twins on a steal attempt at second base in the seventh inning at Target Field on May 25, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Royals defeated the Twins 2-1 in ten innings. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
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