Cody Clemens and Josh Bell hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Thursday.
The Twins hit three homers in four batters, with Matt Wallner driving deep and then Victor Caratini grounders off Clemens and Bell in a power show.
Steven Cruz hit all three home runs for the Royals, taking over for John Schreiber in the ninth inning. Minnesota already led 1-0 in the eighth inning when Schreiber walked Bell and Royce Lewis to start the inning. After striking out Tristan Gray, he intentionally walked Trevor Larnak to set up a right-handed pitcher vs. right-handed hitter duel with Byron Buxton.
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However, Buxton hit a low fly ball to center field on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.
Facing Cole Sands in the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Royals narrowed the score gap to 2-1 with consecutive singles from Mike Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr., as well as Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly. The Sands then got Salvador Perez out and then Tyler Rogers took over for the Twins. He struck out Jacques Caglianone on four pitches to end the inning.
Cruz replaced Schreiber in the top of the ninth, and the Twins’ run began. He allowed three runs on three hits, all home runs.
The Royals tied the game in the ninth inning against Twins reliever Justin Topa with no outs. Jonathan India loaded the bases on a throwing error by Lewis to lead off the inning, then Isaac Collins walked on five pitches, all outside the strike zone.
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Lane Thomas hit a 6-4-3 double but pushed India to third. However, Kyle Isbell struck out three pitches, the third of which was a changeup in the dirt.
The Twins’ Taj Bradley earned the win with six scoreless innings, five hits and three strikeouts. Cole Ruggans took the loss for Kansas City, although he allowed one run in six innings and struck out eight.
Minnesota picked up its second win of the season to improve to 2-4. The loss dropped the Royals to 3-3, half a game behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central Division early in the 2026 MLB season.
