KANSAS CITY, MO. – It wasn't long ago that when the Royals had a lead in the sixth inning, it was going to stay a lead. No exceptions. No charity.
But the demise of the 2015 World Series champions is happening in front of our very eyes, and one of the reasons is that the Royals bullpen has gone from powerful to vulnerable.
The Twins proved it on Friday night with four runs in the eighth inning off old friend Joakim Soria as they rallied for a 6-4 victory over Kansas City, handing their American League Central foes their eighth consecutive loss. And the Twins were 0-10 when trailing after seven innings this season before this breakthrough.
Winning one of the last two games of this series assures the Twins of a winning six-game road trip — they are 3-1 after winning two of three at Texas. At 11-11, another victory assures the Twins of at least a .500 month, a long way from the 7-17 mark they wheezed to last April.
Twins righthander Kyle Gibson, on the hot seat to prove he deserves to remain in the rotation, delivered an uneven performance, giving up three runs over 5 ⅓ innings Friday. Yet it was good enough for the Twins to remain within striking distance.
"Gibby hung in there," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Probably his best outing. Saw some slight improvement in some areas we're trying to get him to move forward on."
Then the Twins struck in the eighth.
Down 4-2 — with only two hits in the game — Eddie Rosario ran his career-high hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single. Byron Buxton walked on a 3-2 pitch. Two batters later, the bases were loaded after Max Kepler reached on an error by right fielder Jorge Bonifacio.
That brought up Miguel Sano, whose two-run homer had accounted for the Twins offense to that point. He took a mighty rip at Soria's first pitch, fouling it straight back — and into the mask of umpire C.B. Bucknor, who would have crumpled to the ground if catcher Salvador Perez had not grabbed him. Bucknor left, with crew chief Fieldin Culbreth replacing him behind the plate.
The game was delayed about six minutes. Soria was able to throw some pitches during the delay, and Sano went to the dugout to stand by the heater.
But Sano was ready when play resumed. he blasted a breaking ball that was inches from being a grand slam. Instead, it bounced back into play for a tying two-run double.
"He was pretty locked in throughout the night," Molitor said.
Bucknor passed initial concussion protocol but will be re-evaluated Saturday.
"Bad, because I hit him in the head," said Sano, who was 2-for-4 with four RBI. "I hope he feels better."
Joe Mauer followed with a double just inside the right field line against lefthander Scott Alexander to give the Twins a 6-4 lead. The Twins bullpen locked it up from there, with Brandon Kintzler earning his sixth save.
The Royals are used to shutting games like that down. Kelvin Herrera currently is their closer, but his 97-mile-per-hour fastballs used to be seen in the sixth and the seventh. Greg Holland, gone. Wade Davis, gone.
This time it was the Twins with the strong bullpen effort.
"In today's game, generally, it is tough to come back," Molitor said. "Teams that do well protect leads late. You just have to hang in the there. It's challenging. We've had opportunities. We've just come up a hit away more than a couple of times."
