MINNEAPOLIS -- The Royals had already suffered two gut-punch losses by way of consecutive walk-offs at the hands of the Twins this weekend, and Sunday was shaping up to be a similar scenario with the two teams tied as the game went to the ninth inning.
But a game-winning single from Maikel Garcia in the 10th inning and a strong four-out outing from Carlos Estévez to get it to extras set up Taylor Clarke to earn the save in Kansas City’s 2-1 win in 10 innings at Target Field. The win salvaged the series finale and denied the Twins a sweep with three consecutive walk-offs, something that has only been done to Kansas City once in franchise history (1971 at Detroit).
“Just not getting walked off again was really nice,” Clarke said, summing it up aptly after he notched his first save of the year.
This series didn’t go the way the Royals would have liked with two losses to a team they’re trailing in the American League Central standings, but winning the final game was a nice way to head back home after a 3-3 road trip to San Francisco and Minnesota.
And the Royals certainly didn’t want to waste another excellent start from Kris Bubic, who allowed just one run in seven innings Sunday to lower his ERA to 1.45 through 11 starts.
Through the one-third mark of the Royals’ season, Bubic has emerged as their ace on the staff with an ERA that ranks second-best in baseball behind Max Fried’s 1.29 ERA.
“He’s an All-Star right now,” Garcia said of Bubic.
Bubic started off shaky, allowing one run on two hits in the first inning when Ryan Jeffers jumped on him for a leadoff double before Ty France lined a ball to center for an RBI single. That would be the last hit Bubic allowed the rest of his outing. He worked around a walk to get out of the first inning, and then retired the next 12 batters until Jeffers led off the sixth with a walk.
This time, Bubic got France to hit into a double play.
“It’s almost like you don’t expect them to score at all,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “What he’s doing is phenomenal. You can’t take it for granted. You appreciate every out. He’s so under control, he’s so composed, and you feel like he’s going to get it done every single time.”
The way Bubic got it done Sunday was a little “different” than his typical plan, he said. The lefty relied heavily on his changeup, which isn’t new; he threw it 40% of the time across his 91 total pitches on Sunday, and the Twins whiffed six times on 17 swings on the pitch. But Bubic only threw his four-seam fastball 23% of the time Sunday, the lowest fastball usage of any appearance in his career.
That was kind of the plan going in, Bubic said, but the first inning confirmed it when Jeffers and France jumped on the four-seamer. Bubic wasn’t able to establish the spin very well in the first inning with his two sliders, but once he did that in the second inning and beyond, the Twins never adjusted back.
“We saw the swings, and the changeup was something that got me back in counts,” Bubic said.
Bubic mowed down the Twins’ lineup, notching nine strikeouts and walking just two batters. He credits his changeup dominance to assistant pitching coach Zach Bove, who is always tinkering with grips and bringing new ideas to pitchers about their stuff.
Bubic has always trusted his changeup, but it’s reached a new level this year.
“We’ve been messing around with a lot of nerdy stuff lately,” Bubic said. “Seam orientation on changeups and sinkers and whatnot. … The changeup grip has kind of evolved for me over the years, and especially this year, just seeing a lot more depth on it.”
The only issue Sunday: The Royals only gave Bubic one run of support. They out-hit the Twins in every game this series, but only went 6-for-32 with runners in scoring position -- 2-for-12 on Sunday -- and stranded 27 baserunners this series.
Eventually, though, they got it done with Garcia’s two-out, two-strike hit in the 10th off Jhoan Duran, who had struck Garcia out in a big moment on Saturday. This time, Garcia came through with automatic runner Nick Loftin racing from second base and sliding into home ahead of the throw from left fielder Willi Castro.
Quatraro was trying to stay away from several relievers on Sunday, including fireman Lucas Erceg, so Estévez notched four outs between the eighth and ninth inning. That put Clarke in the save situation.
“The margin for error is so slim,” Bubic said. “One play here, one play there, was really the difference in the game. … That was a team effort today.”