KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Wallner took a big left-handed swing at Kansas City’s starting pitching plans and gave the Minnesota Twins an early lead in the series opener against the Royals.

Taking advantage of a sweeping slider that came in flat, Wallner drove a 2-2 pitch from left-hander Kris Bubic for a leadoff solo home run in the top of the second inning. His first homer of the 2026 season went 108.7 mph off the bat, traveling 424 feet into the fountains in right field at Kauffman Stadium.

Twins batters overall had started the season 6 for 35 (.171) against lefties until Wallner connected. Wallner himself batted 29 points higher against lefties in 2025, without losing any of his power. It was a marked improvement for him, but also a callback to lefty success he had for a time in the minors.

“It’s a matter of getting consistent at-bats for me,” Wallner said. “It’s hard to have success, not having consistent at-bats against lefties for two weeks and then having to go face them. I definitely struggled with that at times.”

Expect to see Wallner when the Royals go left again, with Noah Cameron set to start when the series resumes Wednesday after an off day. Kansas City ace Cole Ragans goes in the finale Thursday afternoon. Ragans’ approach is considered more neutral; he doesn’t dominate lefties compared to righties.

Twins manager Derek Shelton couldn’t add any more right-handed batters to the lineup than he did against Bubic, but he could switch out switch-hitter Josh Bell, who hit .151 against lefties a season ago. Luke Keaschall, a righty batter, also struggled against left-handed pitching in 2025.

Trevor Larnach and Kody Clemens also sat against Bubic and are typically weak against lefties, but Shelton might use Tristan Gray, a lefty batter who is a .364/.391/.727 hitter in 23 career plate appearances against lefties.

The Twins lost an ABS challenge by the Royals, but right-hander Simeon Woods-Richardson pitched out of a jam that followed.

His team leading by a run in the fifth inning, Royals slugger Maikel Garcia successfully challenged a call that gave him a 3-1 count instead of 2-2. He took advantage by lining the next pitch for a one-out double, bringing Bobby Witt to the plate. Instead, Witt lined (105.8 mph, per Statcast) into an inning-ending 6-4 double play.

Richardson allowed two runs, five hits and a walk, striking out two over five innings. Kyle Isbel’s two-run homer in the second was the big blow.

The Twins acted coyly for a while about who would get the starting pitching assignments for the rest of the Royals series, but right-handers Joe Ryan (Wednesday night) and Taj Bradley (Thursday afternoon) will round things out, Shelton said.

The Royals brought out the family of former player Terrance Gore for the ceremonial first pitch. Gore died in February at age 34 after complications from what was reported to be a routine surgery.

A speedy outfielder, Gore was a stolen-base specialist in 2014 and 2015 when the Royals went to the Series, beating the New York Mets in ‘15.

Zane Gore, an 11-year-old left-hander, threw a strike from the pitching rubber to Royals legend Alex Gordon behind the plate, drawing a big roar from the crowd.

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