As noted in the Gamethread, Bailey Ober has struggled mightily for weeks. Especially in allowing home runs. Naturally, the Royals only got to him for one run, and didn’t hit a single dinger. But hey, one run was all they ended up needing, so good enough.
Noah Cameron pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, which sounds impressive on its surface, but he was dancing around self-created minefields all night long. He allowed six hits and two walks in those 5.2 innings, striking out only four. In every inning except the sixth, he allowed the Twins to get a runner into scoring position. Angel Zerpa cleaned things up that inning after Cameron allowed a runner on with two outs. Hunter Harvey pitched a scoreless seventh, but the Royals didn’t get a 1-2-3 innings until Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estévez pitched the eighth and ninth innings.
The Royals finished the night 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but the Twins finished 0-for-10. That Royals hit didn’t come until there was one out in the ninth, either. Maikel Garcia doubled in Kyle Isbel to give the Royals their first run in the third inning. Jonathan India singled home Adam Frazier to give them the insurance in the ninth.
And that was…pretty much the game. Normally, I prefer these recaps to be a bit longer, but it was a quick game and drama-free outside of all the stranded runners by both teams.
The Royals will get a chance to extend their series-finale winning streak to lucky number 13 tomorrow. That would give them their fifth series win out of their last six and allow them to finish their road trip with a winning record before an off-day Monday and then a crucial homestand against the Nationals, White Sox, and Guardians. The Royals will send Ryan Bergert out for his second start in a Royals uniform; the Twins still don’t have a starting pitcher announced for tomorrow’s game.
The game will start at 12:05 CDT and be nationally broadcast (for free) on the Roku channel.