Jorge Polanco’s ninth inning heroics kept the Twins alive, but it was all for naught as the Royals beat Minnesota 8-5 with a walk-off grand slam by Bobby Witt Jr. in 10th inning.
Bobby ballgame!#HEYHEYHEYHEY // #WelcomeToTheCity pic.twitter.com/lknf3JV0Up
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 29, 2023
Playing for the first time since June 8, Polanco came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning and he ripped a two-run double to tie the game 4-4. Kyle Farmer then gave the Twins a 5-4 lead with a two-out single to score Matt Wallner in the top of the 10th, setting the stage for Witt Jr.’s moment.
Witt Jr. finished the night 4-for-5 with and was a triple shy of the cycle. He smoked a fastball from Jhoan Duran over the left-field wall to win the game, having been given the chance to bat after Duran walked two batters to load the bases.
Kansas City’s 28th ranked pitching staff held the Twins to five hits before Byron Buxton and Polanco came up with hits in the ninth. Buxton pinch-hit in his first at-bat after being on paternity leave Monday-Thursday. He ripped a single to start the ninth before Eddy Julien walked and Donovan Solano was hit by a pitch to set the table for Polanco.
𝙋𝙊𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙊 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙇𝙐𝙏𝘾𝙃!!! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/T83W52nk3Y
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) July 29, 2023
Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on Kyle Isbel’s homer off Sonny Gray to start the third inning. Outside of the long ball, Gray retired 16 of the first 18 batters of the game – and he picked off the only other batter who reached – before running into trouble with two outs in the sixth inning.
With two down and nobody on base, Gray allowed a triple, a run-scoring double and then the go-ahead RBI single for a 3-2 Royals lead.
Witt Jr. had four of Kansas City’s nine hits, including a two-out, RBI single in the ninth inning to put the Royals on top 4-2. Witt got the hit off Twins right-hander Dylan Floro, who was acquired in a trade between Minnesota and Miami on Wednesday. The run wasn’t charged to Floro as he inherited the baserunner put there by Twins lefty Jovani Moran.
Up next: Twins at Royals, Saturday at 6:10 p.m. CT.
