Minnesota Twins 3
Kansas City Royals 4
The Kansas City Royals were up to their old tricks, rallying in the 8th inning to beat the Twins 4-3 Friday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
1. Jepsen struggles again
In two outings so far this season, Twins reliever Kevin Jepsen (0-2) is getting hit pretty hard. Jepsen, who gave up the game-winning run to Baltimore in the bottom of the ninth on Opening Day allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth on Friday night, spoiling a 3-2 Twins lead.
Bullpen again a MAJOR concern. #Twins … Jepsen killing Twins early.
— Joe Nelson (@JoeyBrainstorm) April 9, 2016
2. Parking one
It took until the eighth inning for Byung Ho Park to blast the towering home run that gave the Twins the lead. It was Park’s first home run in the majors after hitting more than 100 home runs over the last two seasons in Korea.
Byung Ho Park's first career homer left the bat at 111 mph at a launch angle of 33 degrees and went 433 feet, per @statcast.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 9, 2016
3. Struggling with the sticks
For the second straight night the Twins were hitting the ball well in the early going with nothing to show for it.
https://twitter.com/LaVelleNeal/status/718617525425020928
Minnesota finally broke through with a timely hit in the sixth inning from Eduardo Escobar that tied the game at 2. It was just their third hit of the game, as they finished 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Twins hitters continue to strike out at an alarming rate. Royals pitches combined to fan 14 Twins on Friday.
Tweet of the Night:
A sign of things to come?
Since moving to Minnesota, the #MNTwins have started 0-4 just 4 times.
Year (final record)
2016
2012 (66-96)
1981 (41-68)
1969 (97-65)— Keith Leventhal (@KeithLeventhal) April 9, 2016
Up Next:
Tommy Milone will make his season debut for the Twins Saturday evening against Kansas City righty Ian Kennedy.
