UNREAL! Clemens' two-out, two-strike walk-off grand slam erases three-run deficit

MINNEAPOLIS -- There are memorable wins, and then there are moments. The kind of swing that a player tells his grandkids about. The kind of game where you tell people you were there.

Kody Clemens had one of those on Thursday. In a game that looked all but hopeless for more than eight innings, Clemens hit the 34th known “ultimate grand slam” in Major League history -- defined as a walk-off grand slam by a team trailing by three runs -- to give the Twins as improbable a win as you will ever see, 4-3 over the Royals at Target Field.

But it was not just an ultimate slam. It was a two-out ultimate slam, on an 0-2 pitch, in a game where the Twins had been no-hit for six innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Clemens’ slam marked the first time in Major League Baseball history, including the postseason, that a team broke up a no-hitter in the seventh inning or later, then went on to hit a walk-off grand slam.

They’ve been playing this game for well over 100 years. There aren’t many things that happen for the first time anymore, but Clemens accomplished one.

“That's stuff that you dream about, stuff like that, when you're a little kid,” Clemens said. “That's what you envision doing.”

Held to a single hit over the first 8 2/3 innings, Minnesota nonetheless assembled a seemingly impossible comeback against the Royals in the ninth, getting up off the mat to stun Kansas City in the rubber game. Clemens finished it off with the first “ultimate grand slam” ever by a Twins player.

The swing was good for a .923 win probability added (WPA), literally the highest possible amount for a single swing of the bat or pitch.

“One swing of the bat and it’s flipped,” said Twins starter Bailey Ober, who allowed three runs in six innings. “Yeah, that’s insane. Me and [reliever Taylor Rogers] were in here joking around saying, ‘Get three guys on base and hit a homer.’ Sure enough, that’s what happened. Crazy game.”

It’s the first known ultimate slam to come on an 0-2 pitch, covering the last 17 occurrences going back to 1988. And the Twins became only the third team in history to hit a walk-off slam after having two outs and no one on base in that inning, following the Pirates on July 28, 2001, and the Diamondbacks on Sept. 27, 2011.

They were down in every possible way. And then they were as up as you can possibly be.

“I went from being extremely pissed, just very candidly, to pure elation,” said manager Derek Shelton, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Thursday. “You go through a gamut of emotions throughout the game.”

Ryan Jeffers, who had the only hit entering the ninth, started the rally when he was hit by a Lucas Erceg pitch with two outs and the bases empty. And immediately, the vibes started to turn in the Minnesota dugout.

Royce Lewis then dropped a single into shallow center field, and Josh Bell kept it going with a walk. Two days after another awfully improbable -- but not quite as improbable -- walk-off win against the Royals, the Twins knew something was afoot.

“Sometimes it starts with something very simple as a hit by pitch,” Shelton said, “and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘OK, there’s a little bit of life.’”

That brought up Clemens, and the Royals went to lefty Matt Strahm to counter the left-handed hitter. That didn’t stop Clemens, who ended the game and sent the Twins to one of their happiest flights in quite some time.

“It was electric,” said Bell. “It starts with one thing in our favor. Obviously, you get the two outs and Jeffers started it. Royce got to two strikes and then gets the knock. It's like, 'All right, keep the line moving.' I had my approach and I think he only threw one strike. I was able to draw a walk. The move happens, lefty-lefty. It was something else.”

With the rally, the Twins’ early struggles in the game were all but forgotten. Which is saying something, because they were completely stifled for the bulk of the game. Royals starter Noah Cameron had been absolutely dominant, taking a no-hitter into the seventh and facing the minimum through five.

According to Lewis, the comeback started the moment Cameron was lifted to start the ninth.

“He was locked in today,” said Lewis. “Tip your cap, he had a great game, especially for a team where the bullpen kind of scuffles. Maybe you leave him out there. I thought the same thing with Randy [Dobnak] yesterday. I was stoked when they took those guys out. When someone’s on, you want ‘em out. So that changed for me immediately.”

The win secured a winning homestand for the Twins and gave them a huge boost as they begin a three-city, nine-game road trip to Seattle, Kansas City, and Milwaukee. They’re three games out in the American League Central and one back in the AL Wild Card chase, and if they didn’t believe before Thursday, you can be sure they do now.

“The belief in every player in the lineup for me is so immense, and it’s for real, man. And it shows why,” said Lewis. “I just knew that we were going to get the job done. Until they say the game is over and you lost, I have belief that we’re going to win every game. It’s so much fun to be a part of.”