By Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune The Tribune Content Agency
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If losing Pablo López to an injury in the fifth inning wasn't a big enough gut punch Tuesday, the Twins found a way to beat themselves in their 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
With the score tied in the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a comebacker to the mound. Griffin Jax sailed the throw over first baseman Ty France's head, and the speedy Witt raced to third base.
The next batter, Vinnie Pasquantino, hit a ground ball to first base, but France had no throw to home plate as Witt slid headfirst across the plate for the go-ahead run.
The Twins, who own a 3-8 record through 11 games, didn't give up any earned runs in their sixth consecutive loss to the Royals, dating back to last year. It is the club's longest losing streak to the Royals since losing seven straight games in 2016.
López permitted three hits and one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings before he reached for the back of his leg twice during a five-pitch walk to Jonathan India. It was López's only walk of the game, and his last pitch was a 92.3-mph sinker, the slowest fastball he threw all night by a full 1 mph.
With two runners on base and two outs in a 1-1 game, pitching coach Pete Maki visited López to chat before an at-bat with Witt. After Maki left the mound, shortstop Carlos Correa had a brief chat with López and then signaled to trainer Nick Paparesta in the dugout.
López had a short conversation with Paparesta and manager Rocco Baldelli before he left the game, exiting after 78 pitches.
Cole Sands, forced to warm up on the mound following the injury, walked Witt before inducing an inning-ending flyout to the warning track against Pasquantino to end a 10-pitch at-bat as the crowd of 13,008 rose to its feet.
It was destined to be a low-scoring game with the way López and Royals lefty Cole Ragans pitched. Ragans, who finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting last year, struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced. He finished with 11 punchouts, matching his second-highest total in a start in his career.
López surrendered his first hit in the fourth inning when Witt lined a double into center field. Then poor infield defense nearly blew up the inning. Mickey Gasper, making his second start of the season at second base, fumbled a routine ground ball for an error as he failed at multiple attempts at picking up the ball.
Gifted an extra out, Salvador Perez drove in Witt on a hard-hit ground ball to third base. It turned into a fielder's choice out when Jose Miranda dove to his left for the stop, then bounced a throw to Gasper at second, spoiling the opportunity for an inning-ending double play.
The inning continued when Michael Massey reached on an infield single, a dribbler up the third-base line, and López airmailed a hurried throw to first base. López was given an error after Perez advanced to third base, but he escaped further damage when he struck out Mark Canha to strand runners on the corners.
In the fifth inning, Ty France lined a double to left field and Edouard Julien was hit by a pitch. Harrison Bader followed with a fly ball to the left-field wall. The ball deflected off Canha's glove, causing some confusion whether he completed the catch, which forced Julien to stop at second base. Ragans retired the next two batters.
The Twins had runners on the corners with one out in the eighth inning after back-to-back singles from Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach. Correa followed by grounding into an inning-ending double play.
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This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 8:07 PM.
