Thursdays can obviously be light days on the major league schedule, but this one was a particularly short slate. As far as relevance to the Yankees goes, the Blue Jays were set to take on the White Sox in Chicago’s home opener, but it was pushed back due to inclement weather. So, American League action was limited to just one contest, an AL Central battle between the Twins and Royals. Kansas City is a formidable contender in the Junior Circuit, so why not give them the ol’ Rivalry Roundup treatment?
Action resumes on Friday with the Jays and Sox, Boston heads to San Diego, the Tigers match up with the Cardinals, and the Mariners and Astros both face off against other AL West squads.
Minnesota Twins 5 (2-4), Kansas City Royals 1 (3-3)
Good pitching and timely home runs. It may come as a shock, but they lead to wins on the baseball field. While the Twins have had a rough start and are poised for a disappointing 2026 campaign, they put those two together quite well on Thursday in Kansas City.
Taj Bradley was on the bump for the Twins, making his second start of the year, and it was his second straight good one. While the line was a little funky in his first start (4.1 IP, 1 ER, 9 K against Baltimore), he was effective, and he put together a real good one on Thursday. Completing six innings of shutout ball, the right-hander kept the baserunners limited while striking out three, maintaining what was a narrow 1-0 lead for the Twins. All said, Bradley has begun the ‘26 season on the right foot.
Minnesota gained that lead early on, in what can be called non-conventional fashion. With Kody Clemens on second base, Royals catcher Salvador Perez made an errant pickoff that sailed into center field, which allowed the Tigers first baseman to trot home to open scoring.
From the other dugout, Cole Ragans was just as good as Bradley on the mound. The always-fun-to-watch lefty allowed only the unearned run across his six innings of work, striking out eight Twins along the way. Baserunners were limited too, as he gave up just four hits and a walk, though the Twins clearly did what they could with them.
With the score remaining 1-0 for much of this one, both lineups mustered something up in the eighth inning. Both the Twins and the Royals managed sacrifice flies in the innings, coming off the bats of Byron Buxton and Vinnie Pasquantino. Minnesota headed into their half of the ninth looking for some insurance.
They would receive just what the doctor ordered, in a rather explosive fashion. Matt Wallner started the fun with a slicing line drive solo homer over the recently shortened wall in left-center, his second on the season. Two batters later, Clemens played a little copycat with a opposite field homer into the Twins bullpen in left. If the now 4-1 lead wasn’t enough, Josh Bell got in on the action two pitches later, when he turned on a ball and sent it scorching into the opposite ‘pen in right field. Three solo shots certainly counts as a viable insurance plan, and the Twins coasted on that to victory.
Four Minnesota relievers allowed just the one run in the final three innings of this one, with veteran Justin Topa closing things down on the non-save situation. Despite the tough start, it was a good win for the Twins as the Royals’ loss puts them back to .500 at 3-3.
