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For much of Thursday’s game, the Twins looked as if they could be bound for the history books, with hitter after hitter retreating back to the dugout unsuccessful against Kansas City Royals starter Noah Cameron.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that Ryan Jeffers broke through, lining a single to center to break up Cameron’s no-hit bid, providing some relief within the dugout and, what Jeffers called a “breath of fresh air.” For eight innings, that was the team’s only hit.
But the Twins have prided themselves all season on playing all 27 outs. They showed it on Tuesday, using Royce Lewis’ walk-off triple with two outs in the ninth inning to come back in a game they had been trailing for most of the night, and they showed it again on Thursday afternoon where, in the end, there was a different kind of history being made at Target Field.
With two outs in the ninth, Kody Clemens launched an 0-2 pitch for Matt Strahm to right-center field, his walk-off grand slam sending the Twins to a 4-3 victory over the Royals and the Target Field crowd into a frenzy. It was the 34th known “ultimate grand slam,” in Major League Baseball history, defined as a walk-off home run with a team trailing by three runs, and first by a Twin, per MLB.com.
“I went from being extremely pissed, just very candidly, to pure elation,” said manager Derek Shelton, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Thursday. “You go through the gamut of emotions throughout the game. … We did not have good at-bats early. But to be able to string at-bats together in the ninth inning like that, just extremely proud of our group.”
Clemens was due to hit sixth in the inning when it began, and after reliever Lucas Erceg quickly retired Trevor Larnach and Victor Caratini, it didn’t look like he’d get a chance.
But when Jeffers took a pitch off his arm and went to first base, the Twins (55-55) had a sliver of hope. That took the Twins’ win probability from 0.5% to 1.5%.
“We’re a really resilient bunch,” Jeffers said. “We keep harping on that, just how good we are late in games, and when we’re down and it just shows again (Thursday).”
The next hitter, Lewis, quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count before eventually singling on a pitch well out of the zone. It was just the team’s second hit of the day.
The win percentage, at that point, was up to 4.6%.
“I just knew we were going to get the job done,” Lewis said. “Until they say the game is over and you lost, I have belief that we’re going to win every game. It’s so much fun to be part of.”
But there was still plenty of work to be done at that point. Josh Bell’s plate appearance, like the one directly before his, started by him falling behind 0-2 as he fouled off a pair of pitches. He looked at the next four, the final one confirmed on a challenge for a walk.
With the bases loaded and two outs, the win probability ticked up to 9.9%.
“It was electric. It starts with one thing in our favor,” Bell said. “Obviously, you get the two outs and Jeffers started it. Royce got to two strikes and then gets the knock. It’s like, ‘All right, keep the line moving.’”
Clemens, believing that his team had “a lot of fight” in it, had been preparing for an at-bat, readying himself for the opportunity. Strahm, a left-hander, was summoned to face Clemens, and like Lewis and Bell before him, Clemens also fell behind 0-2, putting the Twins one strike away from a loss. The third pitch he saw was a slider, and Clemens didn’t miss.
Win probability: 100%.
“That’s stuff that you dream about, stuff like that when you’re a little kid,” Clemens said. “That’s what you envision doing. So, that was awesome.”
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It wasn’t until the seventh inning that Ryan Jeffers broke through, lining a single to center to break up Cameron’s no-hit bid, providing some relief within the dugout and, what Jeffers called a “breath of fresh air.” For eight innings, that was the team’s only hit.
But the Twins have prided themselves all season on playing all 27 outs. They showed it on Tuesday, using Royce Lewis’ walk-off triple with two outs in the ninth inning to come back in a game they had been trailing for most of the night, and they showed it again on Thursday afternoon where, in the end, there was a different kind of history being made at Target Field.
With two outs in the ninth, Kody Clemens launched an 0-2 pitch for Matt Strahm to right-center field, his walk-off grand slam sending the Twins to a 4-3 victory over the Royals and the Target Field crowd into a frenzy. It was the 34th known “ultimate grand slam,” in Major League Baseball history, defined as a walk-off home run with a team trailing by three runs, and first by a Twin, per MLB.com.
“I went from being extremely pissed, just very candidly, to pure elation,” said manager Derek Shelton, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Thursday. “You go through the gamut of emotions throughout the game. … We did not have good at-bats early. But to be able to string at-bats together in the ninth inning like that, just extremely proud of our group.”
Clemens was due to hit sixth in the inning when it began, and after reliever Lucas Erceg quickly retired Trevor Larnach and Victor Caratini, it didn’t look like he’d get a chance.
But when Jeffers took a pitch off his arm and went to first base, the Twins (55-55) had a sliver of hope. That took the Twins’ win probability from 0.5% to 1.5%.
“We’re a really resilient bunch,” Jeffers said. “We keep harping on that, just how good we are late in games, and when we’re down and it just shows again (Thursday).”
The next hitter, Lewis, quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count before eventually singling on a pitch well out of the zone. It was just the team’s second hit of the day.
The win percentage, at that point, was up to 4.6%.
“I just knew we were going to get the job done,” Lewis said. “Until they say the game is over and you lost, I have belief that we’re going to win every game. It’s so much fun to be part of.”
But there was still plenty of work to be done at that point. Josh Bell’s plate appearance, like the one directly before his, started by him falling behind 0-2 as he fouled off a pair of pitches. He looked at the next four, the final one confirmed on a challenge for a walk.
With the bases loaded and two outs, the win probability ticked up to 9.9%.
“It was electric. It starts with one thing in our favor,” Bell said. “Obviously, you get the two outs and Jeffers started it. Royce got to two strikes and then gets the knock. It’s like, ‘All right, keep the line moving.’”
Clemens, believing that his team had “a lot of fight” in it, had been preparing for an at-bat, readying himself for the opportunity. Strahm, a left-hander, was summoned to face Clemens, and like Lewis and Bell before him, Clemens also fell behind 0-2, putting the Twins one strike away from a loss. The third pitch he saw was a slider, and Clemens didn’t miss.
Win probability: 100%.
“That’s stuff that you dream about, stuff like that when you’re a little kid,” Clemens said. “That’s what you envision doing. So, that was awesome.”
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