Minnesota Twins postgame report: Royals early rally tops Twins

The Minnesota Twins took an early lead in the opener of a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals, but a three-run first inning sent the Twins to a 4-1 defeat.

For those worried that the Minnesota Twins may hit a cold streak soon, that fear may be coming to fruition. Despite getting off to a great start thanks to a Jorge Polanco home run, a three-run first inning helped lead the Kansas City Royals to a 4-1 victory at Kaufman Stadium on Thursday night.

The victory helped the Royals open this weekend’s four game series on a positive notes, but brings up more questions about the Twins despite their red-hot start to the season. With the defeat, the Twins suffered their fourth loss in the past five games.

Twin Takeaways – The Good

For a half inning, the Twins had to be feeling good about the direction of this game. Polanco got the Twins off to a great start with his 11th home run of the season adding to an All-Star resume that gets more impressive by the game. With a 1-for-4 effort on the night, Polanco is now hitting .325 on the season with 11 home runs and 38 RBI.

Another positive development for the Twins was the outing of Kohl Stewart. After being recalled earlier in the day to replace Sean Poppen, Stewart had a solid outing allowing just two hits over four innings while picking up a strikeout. It wasn’t dominant by any means, but it allowed the Twins to save their bullpen after a second straight dismal start.

Twin Takeaways – The Bad

Jake Odorizzi took the mound for the Twins in this one and so far this season, that has meant good things. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case tonight as he allowed three runs in the first inning and couldn’t miss the Royals bats as his pitch count rose quickly. The result was his second shortest start of the year next to going 2/3 of an inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Apr. 5. Odorizzi would also take the loss, snapping a streak of 10 straight winning decisions.

The Twins also had their recent issues in the field pop up again as Minnesota committed three errors on the evening. Other plays, including an errant throw by Willians Astudillo that clocked Alex Gordon on the side of the face in the first inning, made for a long night for the Twins.

Up Next

The Twins will try to bounce back against the Royals on Friday night when they throw down in the second game of the four-game set at Kaufman Stadium. The Twins will send Martin Perez (7-3, 4.09 ERA) to the mound as he’ll square off with Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.33 ERA).

The two pitchers squared off in a game at Target Field last Sunday and while Perez went into the seventh inning, it was the Royals who survived an erratic start by Junis to pick up the 8-6 victory. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.