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Orlando Arcia spent much of Saturday’s game watching from the bench as the Twins’ offense was relatively silenced by Kansas City pitching. But given his opportunity in the eighth inning, the veteran infielder took advantage.
Arcia unleashed on a fastball from Matt Strahm, the sixth pitch of his at-bat, and sent it out to left for a tie-breaking home run.
It looked as if he’d be the hero, but the Twins ended up holding the lead only briefly as Kansas City used a two-run ninth inning to win 3-2 in the third game of the series at Target Field.
Eric Orze, in for the save opportunity, allowed a single to begin the ninth. The next batter, Josh Rojas, hit a ball back to him and Orze threw to second, trying to force out Tyler Tolbert, who had stolen the base, as he slid back into the bag. Both runners were safe. A sacrifice bunt followed before Carter Jensen’s sacrifice fly tied the game.
Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. then delivered the game-winning hit, sending a ball just over the glove of a leaping Arcia and into left field.
The Twins’ comeback attempt in the bottom of the inning, which started with a Kody Clemens leadoff double, fell short with Royce Lewis, just back from a stint in Triple-A, striking out looking to end the game.
Minnesota collected just two hits off Kansas City starter Luinder Avila, who held the Twins hitless until Austin Martin’s single in the fifth. Victor Caratini followed that up with a double, then a Tristan Gray sacrifice fly produced the team’s first run of the game.
That was all the Twins would manage off Avila, who dueled with Joe Ryan. The Twins’ ace allowed a home run to Jensen to lead off the game, but the Royals could do little else against him in his six-inning effort.
Ryan worked around a couple of jams, most notably in the sixth when he loaded the bases. But he induced a groundball back to the mound to end his day. For Ryan, it was his fifth quality start in his past six outings.
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Arcia unleashed on a fastball from Matt Strahm, the sixth pitch of his at-bat, and sent it out to left for a tie-breaking home run.
It looked as if he’d be the hero, but the Twins ended up holding the lead only briefly as Kansas City used a two-run ninth inning to win 3-2 in the third game of the series at Target Field.
Eric Orze, in for the save opportunity, allowed a single to begin the ninth. The next batter, Josh Rojas, hit a ball back to him and Orze threw to second, trying to force out Tyler Tolbert, who had stolen the base, as he slid back into the bag. Both runners were safe. A sacrifice bunt followed before Carter Jensen’s sacrifice fly tied the game.
Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. then delivered the game-winning hit, sending a ball just over the glove of a leaping Arcia and into left field.
The Twins’ comeback attempt in the bottom of the inning, which started with a Kody Clemens leadoff double, fell short with Royce Lewis, just back from a stint in Triple-A, striking out looking to end the game.
Minnesota collected just two hits off Kansas City starter Luinder Avila, who held the Twins hitless until Austin Martin’s single in the fifth. Victor Caratini followed that up with a double, then a Tristan Gray sacrifice fly produced the team’s first run of the game.
That was all the Twins would manage off Avila, who dueled with Joe Ryan. The Twins’ ace allowed a home run to Jensen to lead off the game, but the Royals could do little else against him in his six-inning effort.
Ryan worked around a couple of jams, most notably in the sixth when he loaded the bases. But he induced a groundball back to the mound to end his day. For Ryan, it was his fifth quality start in his past six outings.
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