Bobby Witt Jr. leads Royals with 3 RBIs in 10-7 win over Twins
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Bobby Witt Jr. recorded three RBIs with a homer, Kyle Isbel went 4-for-5 and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 10-7 on Saturday night.
Witt went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, a home run and a triple. In his first at-bat of the game after a career-high six RBI night that included a walk-off grand slam, Witt hit a solo homer. He leads the Royals with 60 RBIs and 18 homers.
“I have been just trying to prepare as much as I can to get ready every night, ” Witt said. “I have been working to stay as confident and comfortable as possible to go out there and compete.”
“It is really fun to watch,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You have to stop and appreciate it when you see it because you know how hard it is to be that good for an extended period of time. (Witt) has driven the ball all around the park and he made some defensively. It is fun to watch.”
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Jordan Lyles (2-12) tossed five innings and allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter. It was just the third start this season where the Royals offense gave Lyles at least six runs of support. Scott Barlow earned his 13 save of the year.
“Overall, I am pleased with the start,” Lyles said. “Glad the guys came out and swung it well tonight. That afforded me the chance to get five innings in.”
Six different Royals notched RBIs on a season-high 18 hits. Michael Massey hit a 415-foot homer to right in the second for his eighth of the year. Isbel and Witt have combined for 12 of the 18 Kansas City runs in the series. Maikel Garcia added two RBIs with a sacrifice fly and a single.
Bailey Ober (6-5) gave up six runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts and a hit batter in four innings. The two home runs allowed marked the second consecutive start he has given up two long balls.
Minnesota left five on base which included a bases loaded inning-ending double play by Carlos Correa in the sixth, his 20th of the season. The Twins went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
“There were a lot of things in this game we didn’t do very well," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ”Shooting ourselves in the foot and things like that, which does take place in our game and every team is going to make mistakes and things aren’t going to go smooth. Overall, that was a hard one to watch because as we got closer, the game seemed to get further away.”
Byron Buxton went 3-for-3 with three doubles and two RBIs. He sparked a three-run fourth with a two-run double. Max Kepler belted a solo homer to lead off the sixth. Christian Vazquez recorded two RBIs. Willi Castro hit an RBI as part of a two-run eighth.
Royal Flush
The Royals sealed a series win in the process against a Twins team in a heated battle for the AL Central crown. It is the fifth series win of the season for the Royals and the second time this season Kansas City avoided a rubber game for a series. The last was against San Francisco in April.
Up next
LHP Ryan Yarbrough (3-5, 4.70 ERA) will take the mound in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. RHP Kenta Maeda (2-5, 4.62) will get the nod for Minnesota. It is the final meeting of the 2023 season between the two AL Central opponents.