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3Bplay · 03-08-2026, 08:58 AM

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: TWINS
Offense comes alive in home-opening sweep

By 3BPlay
04/03/2026

03/30 -- Royals rally late; hold on for first win: Down 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh and hurtling towards a loss in their home opener, the Royals led off the inning with a single by Kyle Isbel, and then a triple from Isaac Collins to cut the lead down to just two. Bobby Witt then hit a sac fly to score Collins and chase starter Zebby Matthews from the game, but there seemed to be a thought of, "are we doing this again?" Leaving another golden scoring opportunity on the field?

It didn't play out that way this time, as the opening salvo was followed up by back-to-back doubles off reliever Trevor Gott from Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino to tie the game at six. After a walk and a fly-out, pinch-hitter Josh Rojas delivered the go-ahead hit, a bloop single just over shortstop that scored Pasquantino from second base.

It was yet another tough outing from Royals' starting pitching, as Seth Lugo was knocked around for six runs, five of them earned, in just 4 1/3 innings. Bailey Falter entered the game with just one out in the fifth, and single-handedly kept the Twins at bay almost the rest of the way, giving the Royals 3 2/3 innings of relief with just one hit and five strikeouts.

"He was brilliant, and really picked us up when we needed it," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We've struggled in getting through five innings with our starters so far, and we needed Bailey to step up, and he did in a real big way for us."

Closer Carlos Estevez came in for the ninth, and while it wasn't without some drama, he worked around a single and a walk to save the Royals' first victory of the season. Salvador Perez hit his first homerun of the season in the fourth inning, giving him 298 for his career.

Code:

MIN at KC | 03/30/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Minnesota (1-3)    0  0  3  0  3  0  1  0  0  6  9  2
Kansas City (1-2)  0  0  1  2  0  0  4  0  X  7  11 1

Code:

W: Bailey Falter (1-0) L: Trevor Gott (0-1) S: Carlos Estevez (1)
MIN HR: Byron Buxton (1)
KC HR: Salvador Perez (1)

Code:

MLB Scoreboard: March 30th, 2026
TEX 4, BAL 3 | MIN 6, KC  7 | COL 7, TOR 2 | BOS 4,  HOU 5 
NYY 1, SEA 6 | PIT 5, CIN 2 | ATH 6, ATL 4 | DET 10, ARI 7
CHW 0, MIA 1 | TB  6, MIL 5 | LAA 5, CHC 2 | SF  12, SD  10
WSH 1, PHI 8 | NYM 1, STL 3 | CLE 0, LAD 4 |

03/31 -- Royals activate Starling Marte; designate Waters: After being signed to a minor league deal early in the spring, Starling Marte was placed on the injured list with a low-grade hamstring strain and then assigned to Triple-A to begin the season. But the Royals have abruptly changed plans, as he's been activated from the IL and added to the active and 40-man rosters. Drew Waters was designated for assignment, appearing in three of the team's first four games with just one plate appearance.

Marte, 37, signed a minor-league deal with an option to opt-out if not activated by a certain date, which is common for most established veterans who are on the back end of their careers, but still good enough to warrant a roster spot if they can produce and stay healthy, or if injuries arise. The Royals were interested in adding Marte at the deadline a season ago, but his nearly $20 million salary at the time was reportedly a major obstacle (and not only for the Royals).

Injuries have limited his time in the past few years, but he's still a reliable right-handed bat that hits lefties well, and also holds the distinction of being the league's active career stolen base leader with 361 steals to his name. With the off-day on Tuesday, Marte is expected to be with the team in time for Wednesday's game.

Marte adds a bit more balance to an outfield group that skews heavily lefty, with switch-hitters in Waters and Isaac Collins that hit better from the left side than the right, despite both throwing right-handed. While not as speedy as he used to be, Marte could still be called upon for innings in the outfield at times, but Quatraro noted that Marte would "likely be asked to keep his glove at home" most days.

"This is a solid guy, good leadership qualities and he's someone that has been around winning organizations and knows what it takes to succeed at this level," Quatraro said in an interview this morning. "Unfortunately, we had to make a tough decision on Drew (Waters), but we're hopeful that he can still remain in the organization."

The team appears to be hopeful to pass him through waivers, as he doesn't have any options remaining; and in fact, he can't refuse a minor league assignment as he has not accumulated enough service time to qualify for such a privilege. If he makes it through waivers, he'd join a pretty crowded outfield group in Omaha that includes Tyler Gentry, Gavin Cross, John Rave, and recent trade acquisitions Kameron Misner and Jace Avina.

Code:

March 31st, 2026
TEX 3,  BAL 8 | COL 5,  TOR 3 | BOS 5,  HOU 7 | NYY 4,  SEA 6
PIT 3,  CIN 2 | ATH 8,  ATL 6 | WSH 4,  PHI 8 | CHW 5,  NYM 7
TB  1,  MIL 2 | LAA 5,  CHC 6 | NYM 2,  STL 5 | DET 7,  ARI 8
CLE 4,  LAD 7 | SF 12,  SD  3 |

04/01 -- Perez inches closer to milestone in Royals victory: With homerun number-299 in the first inning, Salvador Perez inched closer to the prominent milestone and set the tone for Kansas City in their 9-3 win over Minnesota to clinch the series victory. Perez's three-run homer, however, stood as the Royals' only offense until the sixth inning when Jac Caglianone broke the game wide open with his first homerun of the season, a grand slam against Taj Bradley that brought about the end of his outing.

"It was good to see Jac get his first one out of the way," manager Matt Quatraro said with a grin outside of the home locker room after the game. "He's hit some balls pretty hard so far with nothing to show for it, so hopefully this is the catalyst for him going forward."

Perez's homerun leaves him just nineteen short of breaking George Brett's all-time team record of 317, and his next homerun would make him only the second player in team history with at least 300. In fact, he's only the second player aside from Brett in team history to hit more than two-hundred in his Royals career.

For good measure, Carter Jensen also hit his third homerun of the season, a 391-foot solo blast that went nearly twenty rows up in straightaway right field. After a tough sample of forty-one plate appearances with a .620 OPS at the end of 2025, he's hit a trio of homeruns and has more walks (3) than strikeouts (2).

But the most promising development from the game was Michael Wacha, who gave the Royals easily their best starting effort from a pitcher so far in the young season. In just ninety-one pitches, Wacha went 6 2/3 innings, striking out six with no walks, while scattering just five hits and one run, which came on a Royce Lewis homerun.

He was replaced by righty Stephen Kolek, who breezed into the ninth inning after 1 1/3 scoreless innings, but ran into immediate trouble in that inning as Gio Urshela hit a leadoff, pinch-hit homerun before the Twins doubled twice and walked, eventually chasing Kolek from the game with two outs in favor of Alex Lange, who finally closed the door with a strikeout of Kody Clemens.

Code:

MIN at KC | 04/01/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Minnesota (1-4)    0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  2  3  9  0
Kansas City (2-2)  3  0  0  0  0  5  0  1  X  9  10 0

Code:

W: Michael Wacha (1-0) L: Taj Bradley (0-1) S: None
MIN HR: Royce Lewis (2)
KC HR: Salvador Perez (2), Jac Caglianone (1), Carter Jensen (3)

Code:

April 1st, 2026
MIN 3,  KC  9 | COL 2,  TOR 3 | BOS 6,  HOU 2 | LAA 1,  CHC 11
NYY 5,  SEA 2 | TEX 4,  BAL 9 | PIT 7,  CIN 4 | CLE 5,  LAD 6 (10)
WSH 5,  PHI 2 | CHW 3,  MIA 7 | TB  4,  MIL 2 | ATH 10, ATL 6
NYM 5,  STL 7 | DET 8,  ARI 7 | SF  1,  SD  8 |

04/02 -- Witt, Pasquatch power Royals victory and sweep: Bobby Witt Jr and Vinnie Pasquantino combined to go 7-for-9 with two homeruns and eight RBI as the Royals pounded Minnesota 12-6 to claim the series sweep. Cole Ragans went six innings; and while he allowed a pair of homeruns, he was able to limit the damage outside of those two hits, scattering five hits and a walk while striking out eight to pick up his first win.

Minnesota jumped in front first with a two-run homerun from Royce Lewis in the top of the second, but the Royals tied the game in the third with two runs of their own in starting a streak of six straight half-innings in which they managed to score at least once, including a four-spot in the fourth inning. The Twins received a four-hit performance from Matt Wallner, who homered twice and drove in three runs while scoring three times himself. Aside from him, however, Lewis was the only other bright spot.

"Consistent, sustained rallies pretty much the entire game," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It's unrealistic to expect this type of production every night or day out, but we're going to be tough to beat getting production like this."

After a slow start through his first four games, Witt broke out of his early season skid, falling a triple short of the cycle. He also stole a base as part of his day as the Royals pulled off a double steal with him and Maikel Garcia in the third. Pasquantino drove them both in with a single, putting the Royals on the board in that frame.

"That's something we've emphasized a bit more in the spring and when the situations arise, we can take advantage," Witt said afterwards. "I think we're one of the fastest teams, if not the fastest, team in the league, and we have a few other guys in this locker room that can be pests on the bases."

The Royals' sweep of the Twins is their first home-opening sweep since their World Series-winning season in 2015, when they swept the White Sox in three games by a combined score of 21-7. They would go on to start 7-0, including a three-game sweep of the Angels on the heels of the White Sox series, and winning the first game of the next road series with Minnesota.

Code:

MIN at KC | 04/02/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Minnesota (1-5)    0  2  0  0  0  1  0  3  2  6  9  2
Kansas City (3-2)  0  0  2  4  1  2  2  1  X  12 14 1

Code:

W: Cole Ragans (1-1) L: Bailey Ober (0-1) S: None
MIN HR: Matt Wallner 2 (2), Royce Lewis (3)
KC HR: Vinnie Pasquantino (1), Bobby Witt Jr (1)

Code:

April 2nd, 2026
TOR 1, CHW 5 | ATL 8, ARI 1 | MIN 6, KC 12 | NYM 7, SF 4 (11)

03-08-2026, 08:58 AM	#14
3Bplay Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 367	Minnesota at Kansas City (04/03) Team Roster/Records \| Statistics \| Standings SERIES RECAP: TWINS Offense comes alive in home-opening sweep By 3BPlay 04/03/2026 03/30 -- Royals rally late; hold on for first win: Down 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh and hurtling towards a loss in their home opener, the Royals led off the inning with a single by Kyle Isbel, and then a triple from Isaac Collins to cut the lead down to just two. Bobby Witt then hit a sac fly to score Collins and chase starter Zebby Matthews from the game, but there seemed to be a thought of, "are we doing this again?" Leaving another golden scoring opportunity on the field? It didn't play out that way this time, as the opening salvo was followed up by back-to-back doubles off reliever Trevor Gott from Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino to tie the game at six. After a walk and a fly-out, pinch-hitter Josh Rojas delivered the go-ahead hit, a bloop single just over shortstop that scored Pasquantino from second base. It was yet another tough outing from Royals' starting pitching, as Seth Lugo was knocked around for six runs, five of them earned, in just 4 1/3 innings. Bailey Falter entered the game with just one out in the fifth, and single-handedly kept the Twins at bay almost the rest of the way, giving the Royals 3 2/3 innings of relief with just one hit and five strikeouts. "He was brilliant, and really picked us up when we needed it," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We've struggled in getting through five innings with our starters so far, and we needed Bailey to step up, and he did in a real big way for us." Closer Carlos Estevez came in for the ninth, and while it wasn't without some drama, he worked around a single and a walk to save the Royals' first victory of the season. Salvador Perez hit his first homerun of the season in the fourth inning, giving him 298 for his career. Code: MIN at KC \| 03/30/2026 \| Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO TEAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Minnesota (1-3) 0 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 6 9 2 Kansas City (1-2) 0 0 1 2 0 0 4 0 X 7 11 1 Code: W: Bailey Falter (1-0) L: Trevor Gott (0-1) S: Carlos Estevez (1) MIN HR: Byron Buxton (1) KC HR: Salvador Perez (1) Code: MLB Scoreboard: March 30th, 2026 TEX 4, BAL 3 \| MIN 6, KC 7 \| COL 7, TOR 2 \| BOS 4, HOU 5 NYY 1, SEA 6 \| PIT 5, CIN 2 \| ATH 6, ATL 4 \| DET 10, ARI 7 CHW 0, MIA 1 \| TB 6, MIL 5 \| LAA 5, CHC 2 \| SF 12, SD 10 WSH 1, PHI 8 \| NYM 1, STL 3 \| CLE 0, LAD 4 \| 03/31 -- Royals activate Starling Marte; designate Waters: After being signed to a minor league deal early in the spring, Starling Marte was placed on the injured list with a low-grade hamstring strain and then assigned to Triple-A to begin the season. But the Royals have abruptly changed plans, as he's been activated from the IL and added to the active and 40-man rosters. Drew Waters was designated for assignment, appearing in three of the team's first four games with just one plate appearance. Marte, 37, signed a minor-league deal with an option to opt-out if not activated by a certain date, which is common for most established veterans who are on the back end of their careers, but still good enough to warrant a roster spot if they can produce and stay healthy, or if injuries arise. The Royals were interested in adding Marte at the deadline a season ago, but his nearly $20 million salary at the time was reportedly a major obstacle (and not only for the Royals). Injuries have limited his time in the past few years, but he's still a reliable right-handed bat that hits lefties well, and also holds the distinction of being the league's active career stolen base leader with 361 steals to his name. With the off-day on Tuesday, Marte is expected to be with the team in time for Wednesday's game. Marte adds a bit more balance to an outfield group that skews heavily lefty, with switch-hitters in Waters and Isaac Collins that hit better from the left side than the right, despite both throwing right-handed. While not as speedy as he used to be, Marte could still be called upon for innings in the outfield at times, but Quatraro noted that Marte would "likely be asked to keep his glove at home" most days. "This is a solid guy, good leadership qualities and he's someone that has been around winning organizations and knows what it takes to succeed at this level," Quatraro said in an interview this morning. "Unfortunately, we had to make a tough decision on Drew (Waters), but we're hopeful that he can still remain in the organization." The team appears to be hopeful to pass him through waivers, as he doesn't have any options remaining; and in fact, he can't refuse a minor league assignment as he has not accumulated enough service time to qualify for such a privilege. If he makes it through waivers, he'd join a pretty crowded outfield group in Omaha that includes Tyler Gentry, Gavin Cross, John Rave, and recent trade acquisitions Kameron Misner and Jace Avina. Code: March 31st, 2026 TEX 3, BAL 8 \| COL 5, TOR 3 \| BOS 5, HOU 7 \| NYY 4, SEA 6 PIT 3, CIN 2 \| ATH 8, ATL 6 \| WSH 4, PHI 8 \| CHW 5, NYM 7 TB 1, MIL 2 \| LAA 5, CHC 6 \| NYM 2, STL 5 \| DET 7, ARI 8 CLE 4, LAD 7 \| SF 12, SD 3 \| 04/01 -- Perez inches closer to milestone in Royals victory: With homerun number-299 in the first inning, Salvador Perez inched closer to the prominent milestone and set the tone for Kansas City in their 9-3 win over Minnesota to clinch the series victory. Perez's three-run homer, however, stood as the Royals' only offense until the sixth inning when Jac Caglianone broke the game wide open with his first homerun of the season, a grand slam against Taj Bradley that brought about the end of his outing. "It was good to see Jac get his first one out of the way," manager Matt Quatraro said with a grin outside of the home locker room after the game. "He's hit some balls pretty hard so far with nothing to show for it, so hopefully this is the catalyst for him going forward." Perez's homerun leaves him just nineteen short of breaking George Brett's all-time team record of 317, and his next homerun would make him only the second player in team history with at least 300. In fact, he's only the second player aside from Brett in team history to hit more than two-hundred in his Royals career. For good measure, Carter Jensen also hit his third homerun of the season, a 391-foot solo blast that went nearly twenty rows up in straightaway right field. After a tough sample of forty-one plate appearances with a .620 OPS at the end of 2025, he's hit a trio of homeruns and has more walks (3) than strikeouts (2). But the most promising development from the game was Michael Wacha, who gave the Royals easily their best starting effort from a pitcher so far in the young season. In just ninety-one pitches, Wacha went 6 2/3 innings, striking out six with no walks, while scattering just five hits and one run, which came on a Royce Lewis homerun. He was replaced by righty Stephen Kolek, who breezed into the ninth inning after 1 1/3 scoreless innings, but ran into immediate trouble in that inning as Gio Urshela hit a leadoff, pinch-hit homerun before the Twins doubled twice and walked, eventually chasing Kolek from the game with two outs in favor of Alex Lange, who finally closed the door with a strikeout of Kody Clemens. Code: MIN at KC \| 04/01/2026 \| Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO TEAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Minnesota (1-4) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 9 0 Kansas City (2-2) 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 X 9 10 0 Code: W: Michael Wacha (1-0) L: Taj Bradley (0-1) S: None MIN HR: Royce Lewis (2) KC HR: Salvador Perez (2), Jac Caglianone (1), Carter Jensen (3) Code: April 1st, 2026 MIN 3, KC 9 \| COL 2, TOR 3 \| BOS 6, HOU 2 \| LAA 1, CHC 11 NYY 5, SEA 2 \| TEX 4, BAL 9 \| PIT 7, CIN 4 \| CLE 5, LAD 6 (10) WSH 5, PHI 2 \| CHW 3, MIA 7 \| TB 4, MIL 2 \| ATH 10, ATL 6 NYM 5, STL 7 \| DET 8, ARI 7 \| SF 1, SD 8 \| 04/02 -- Witt, Pasquatch power Royals victory and sweep: Bobby Witt Jr and Vinnie Pasquantino combined to go 7-for-9 with two homeruns and eight RBI as the Royals pounded Minnesota 12-6 to claim the series sweep. Cole Ragans went six innings; and while he allowed a pair of homeruns, he was able to limit the damage outside of those two hits, scattering five hits and a walk while striking out eight to pick up his first win. Minnesota jumped in front first with a two-run homerun from Royce Lewis in the top of the second, but the Royals tied the game in the third with two runs of their own in starting a streak of six straight half-innings in which they managed to score at least once, including a four-spot in the fourth inning. The Twins received a four-hit performance from Matt Wallner, who homered twice and drove in three runs while scoring three times himself. Aside from him, however, Lewis was the only other bright spot. "Consistent, sustained rallies pretty much the entire game," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It's unrealistic to expect this type of production every night or day out, but we're going to be tough to beat getting production like this." After a slow start through his first four games, Witt broke out of his early season skid, falling a triple short of the cycle. He also stole a base as part of his day as the Royals pulled off a double steal with him and Maikel Garcia in the third. Pasquantino drove them both in with a single, putting the Royals on the board in that frame. "That's something we've emphasized a bit more in the spring and when the situations arise, we can take advantage," Witt said afterwards. "I think we're one of the fastest teams, if not the fastest, team in the league, and we have a few other guys in this locker room that can be pests on the bases." The Royals' sweep of the Twins is their first home-opening sweep since their World Series-winning season in 2015, when they swept the White Sox in three games by a combined score of 21-7. They would go on to start 7-0, including a three-game sweep of the Angels on the heels of the White Sox series, and winning the first game of the next road series with Minnesota. Code: MIN at KC \| 04/02/2026 \| Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO TEAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Minnesota (1-5) 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 6 9 2 Kansas City (3-2) 0 0 2 4 1 2 2 1 X 12 14 1 Code: W: Cole Ragans (1-1) L: Bailey Ober (0-1) S: None MIN HR: Matt Wallner 2 (2), Royce Lewis (3) KC HR: Vinnie Pasquantino (1), Bobby Witt Jr (1) Code: April 2nd, 2026 TOR 1, CHW 5 \| ATL 8, ARI 1 \| MIN 6, KC 12 \| NYM 7, SF 4 (11) Last edited by 3Bplay; 03-08-2026 at 09:08 AM.