Royals thrown out twice at home in two-run loss to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – With two outs, the Royals trailing by three runs in the seventh inning and Isaac Collins on second base, almost everyone knew that if a ball got to the outfield, Collins would attempt to break for home and try to give the Royals some momentum to work their way back into the game.

He was ready for the swing, and when Kyle Isbel lined a ball into right field, Collins took off.

Unfortunately for the Royals, it was déjà vu all over again. Twins right fielder Austin Martin collected his second outfield assist on the night with another good throw home that robbed the Royals of two runs in their 5-3 loss to the Twins at Target Field on Friday night.

In what ended up a two-run game, those two potential runs clearly loomed large, magnified even more by the outs on the bases.

“In that situation, I knew, [third-base coach] Vance [Wilson] knew that we were going there,” Collins said. “There was no doubt, no hesitation there. You just have to give them credit for making a play.”

The Royals preach aggressiveness on the bases and won’t deviate from that philosophy. It worked for them on Thursday in the series opener, when Isbel scored in the sixth inning by just barely beating the throw and tag at home for a crucial run in the Royals’ win.

Friday night? Not so much.

“Those are bang-bang plays, and tough decisions in the moment,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “But if we’re going to be aggressive on the bases, it’s hard to turn it on and turn it off. You want guys to be thinking [about taking] big secondary [leads], hard turns and thinking about getting the next 90 [feet] all the time.”

The other outfield assist from Martin – who has an average arm, but not one the Royals felt they needed to be careful with entering the series – came in the fourth inning when Jac Caglianone attempted to score from second on Michael Massey’s single into right field. The throw from Martin was a little off-line, but catcher Alex Jackson was able to snag it and turn quickly to tag Caglianone’s foot before it hit the plate. On both throws, Martin had the momentum coming in on the ball.

“It was one of those off the bat, I knew I was going to get the green light,” Caglianone said. “Credit to Martin. He made two good throws tonight. And for Alex to go and make the tag like he did on me and with Isaac, it was impressive, honestly. It’s cool to see, but it sucks when it happens to us. It’s one of those things that we’ve got to, I guess, be cautious of now.”

The Royals were trying to make something happen offensively, too, because Twins starter Zebby Matthews didn’t allow many opportunities after the first inning. The Royals tagged him for two runs to open the game with doubles from Vinnie Pasquantino and Caglianone, but Collins struck out swinging to end the frame, and Matthews didn’t allow another run through seven innings. Their only real opportunities to score were in the fourth and seventh innings.

“We’re going to try to be aggressive,” Quatraro said. “Martin made two really good throws. We’ve got to try to force the issue like we’re talking about, not having tons of opportunities. That was the way we could do it.”

Royals starter Michael Wacha had the opposite experience, cruising through the first five innings with one run allowed and holding a one-run lead as he entered the sixth at 54 pitches.

Then it all unraveled.

Brooks Lee ambushed a first-pitch cutter for a game-tying homer. The Twins followed with back-to-back doubles. Orlando Arcia singled to right field, but Caglianone couldn’t corral the ball as he dove for it. The error moved Arcia up to second base, and two wild pitches later, Arcia was crossing home plate as the fourth run of the inning.

“Third time through the lineup, that sixth, just wasn’t executing pitches the way I needed to,” Wacha said. “They took advantage of it. … Just tried to keep attacking with that gameplan we had going. Just stopped executing for whatever reason there.”

The second wild pitch Wacha threw hit catcher Salvador Perez’s thumbnail, prompting one trainer’s visit for him while another trainer visited Wacha, who said he had “some knee stuff” going on, but feels fine.

Wacha recorded the second out of the sixth inning before Quatraro turned it over to the bullpen. Steven Cruz and Beck Way – who made his MLB debut Friday night in the eighth – held the Twins scoreless the rest of the way, but the Royals’ offense couldn’t capitalize on their efforts.