MINNEAPOLIS – The Royals have played 11 games since the All-Star break, and nine of them have been decided by one run, including each of their last eight games.
Tuesday was no different, except it ended up being a crushing loss in this otherwise good stretch of baseball the Royals have been playing.
On the cusp of a win with two outs – including what was set up to be a game-saving diving catch from Isaac Collins in left field – Royals closer Alex Lange instead left a cutter up in the zone to Twins second baseman Royce Lewis, who crushed it off the center-field wall at Target Field for a walk-off triple, handing the Royals a 3-2 loss at Target Field.
“[Lange] battles back to get two outs,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “And you’re right on the verge. So it’s a really devastating loss.”
The Royals had their pitching lined up the way they wanted it, too. After Seth Lugo delivered six strong innings of one-run ball and the Royals took the lead in the top of the sixth inning on a Salvador Perez RBI single, Quatraro brought in lefty Daniel Lynch IV for the seventh. Lynch recorded two outs but allowed a double, so when the Twins pinch-hit for Trevor Larnach, a left-hander, at the top of the lineup with Lewis, a right-hander, Quatraro countered with John Schreiber. Lewis walked, but Schreiber got Alan Roden to line out to left field.
Steven Cruz, who continues to get more and more high-leverage opportunities, handled the middle of the Twins’ lineup in the eighth. That gave Lange the ninth and the bottom of the Twins lineup. But he allowed a single to Victor Caratini and walked Brooks Lee to set up the walk-off.
“It's most disappointing to let your teammates down after they battled their [tails] off for nine innings,” Lange said.
The Royals’ bullpen struggles have been documented throughout the season, and they’ll have to see new arms step up with Monday’s Trade Deadline likely seeing a few relievers finding new teams.
But what was good to see Tuesday was the quality start from Lugo, who has had all sorts of trouble at Target Field in his career. He entered Tuesday with a 7.62 ERA in six appearances (five starts) here, and in his last three starts in Minneapolis, he’s allowed 20 runs (19 earned) in 13 innings.
Back in June, after allowing five earned runs in five innings, he alluded to already having an idea of the adjustment he needed to make when the Royals came to town again.
“I made a pretty significant adjustment to pitches that I’ve thrown more than others today,” Lugo said Tuesday. “Worked out pretty good. Prefer to keep that information to myself, but I feel pretty confident about what we decided to do today.”
Lugo wouldn’t divulge too much, but his adjustment had to do with pitch usage. He faced seven of the same hitters in the starting lineup on Tuesday as he did on June 4, and he increased his curveball and slider usages (17% and 14%, respectively, among his 84 total pitches thrown) on Tuesday compared to what he threw June 4, with those two breaking balls each representing 10% of the pitches he threw among his 92 pitches thrown that day. His sweeper usage dropped down from 18% on June 4 to 11% Tuesday.
“Thrown the same arsenal I’ve had for a couple of months, but just relying more heavy on some other pitches than others,” Lugo said.
Lugo relied on four inning-ending double plays, and the Royals turned five double plays total, a season-high in MLB and most in a nine-inning game since the White Sox had five against the Royals on June 8, 2025.
“Double plays are a pitcher’s best friend,” Lugo said. “Especially with some of the power they have in the lineup. Get a guy on first base and turn it into two outs instead of having two guys on or another guy in scoring position – that’s a dangerous setup. That goes a long way.”
The Royals had opportunities offensively after they took the lead in the sixth inning, with a runner reaching base in each of the next three innings, but they couldn’t capitalize. The double steal executed in the sixth, with Josh Rojas scoring on the play, was unplanned, but a necessary jolt with Taj Bradley throwing so well.
“Once [Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers] let it go, I felt like my secondary [lead] was good enough to take a shot there,” Rojas said. “... Taj was throwing such a good game, and he was tough at the plate. To squeak one out there without having to put the ball in play is always nice.”