After the Twins rallied from a four-run deficit against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday for a 7-6 victory, Carlos Correa thought back to a team meeting last week that followed a seven-game losing streak.
Twins edge Royals 7-6 on Carlos Correa’s three-run triple, two Ryan Jeffers home runs
The Twins survived a shaky ninth inning and won three of four in the series against Kansas City.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 30, 2024 at 10:05PM
“Before that talk we had as a team, it felt like if we were down 2-0, we already lost the game and there was no energy and no desire to come back,” Correa said. “We said we can’t keep doing this.
“If we want to get to where we want to get, we’re going to be down for a couple of innings, and we have to figure out a way to fight back. I felt like we did that a lot since then.”
Ryan Jeffers clubbed a pair of home runs against Royals lefty starter Daniel Lynch IV to get the Twins within 4-3, and then a chess match broke out in the sixth inning at Target Field when Kansas City brought in righthander Chris Stratton. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli had opportunities to deploy the four lefty batters on his bench, and each of the moves worked.
Willi Castro reached on a one-out infield single, and he was granted second base when shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.’s throw skipped to the netting next to the Twins dugout. Max Kepler entered as a pinch hitter for Kyle Farmer and, with a two-strike count, blooped a game-tying RBI single to left field on a low fastball.
“We revolve our team and the way we function offensively on being able to do things like that,” Baldelli said of the platoon-based lineups that can leave a deeper bench for the end of games. “It’s not easy to do, but it’s something we have to do. And we’re doing well right now.”
Stratton issued a walk to Carlos Santana and he struck out Christian Vázquez to set up the next chess-like move with two outs. The choice was between keeping Manuel Margot, who was hitting .151 versus righthanded pitchers, against a struggling Stratton, or use Trevor Larnach as a pinch hitter when the Royals had lefty Sam Long warming in the bullpen.
Baldelli stuck with Margot, who drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Correa rewarded the decision further when he was ahead in a 3-1 count, then lined a bases-clearing, three-run triple down the right-field line. Correa celebrated his go-ahead hit and second triple in his last nine games by raising both his arms and letting out a yell.
“I’m a little faster this year than last year, so I have to take advantage of that — put the league on notice,” said a smiling Correa.
Jeffers, who was mired in a 5-for-42 slump (.119 batting average) with only one extra-base hit in his last 13 games, sparked the offense with a two-run homer in the fourth inning on a changeup from Lynch, and a solo homer in the fifth inning on a fastball.
“It felt like it’s been forever,” said Jeffers, who had the third multi-homer game of his career. “I don’t know what it’s been, but it’s probably been a couple of weeks. It feels like forever.”
Twins closer Jhoan Duran earned his fifth save on the seven-game homestand after giving up two unearned runs in the ninth inning. He made a wild throw on a comebacker to the mound, extending the inning, and Witt delivered a two-run, two-out single.
Duran closed it with another comebacker to the mound, this time making a better throw to first base for the final out. The Twins have won seven of their past nine games, taking three of four from the Royals, who entered as one of the hottest teams in the league. Now comes a 10-day, nine-game road trip that starts Friday in Houston.
“There are definitely things we need to clean up,” Jeffers said. “There are definitely things we need to do better if we want to achieve our goals of where we want to be at the end of the year. But I like what we’re doing, how hard we’re playing, the intensity and the grit we’re playing with.”
The eight Twins headed for arbitration are Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran, Bailey Ober, Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Griffin Jax and Trevor Larnach.
