Luke Keaschall hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Teammates lined up to exchange hugs and high fives with Keaschall, whose opposite-field blast to right gave Minnesota the series win. Keaschall finished 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and two RBIs.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homer for Kansas City, which could not hold on to a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. Adam Frazier went 4-for-5 with an RBI while Maikel Garcia reached base five times with two singles, a double and a pair of walks.
Twins right-hander Michael Tonkin (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings as the sixth and final reliever to follow starter Jose Urena, who gave up one run on three hits in three innings.
Royals right-hander Carlos Estevez (4-4) gave up two runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning. Kansas City used five pitchers out of the bullpen after starter Ryan Bergert allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Keaschall provided a dramatic finish with two outs in the 11th. He tracked a 95-mph fastball that was up in the strike zone, and he muscled it to right for the second homer of his rookie campaign.
Fellow rookie Ryan Fitzgerald also shined for the Twins. He cracked a two-run homer for his first big-league hit, which gave the Twins a 2-1 lead in the third inning.
Teammates cheered from the top step of the dugout for Fitzgerald, a 31-year-old who has appeared in 708 minor league games. He was 0-for-3 in his first three big-league games before Sunday, when he finished 2-for-4.
Minnesota held on to a one-run lead until the Royals had a two-out rally in the seventh.
Garcia started the comeback with a single to left. Pasquantino followed with a high-arching, two-run shot that landed just beyond the wall in right to put Kansas City on top 3-2.
The blast marked Pasquantino’s career-best 20th homer of the season.
The Twins pulled even 3-3 in the eighth. Ryan Jeffers hit an RBI single to drive in Austin Martin, who tripled to the wall on a ball that left fielder John Rave dived for but missed.
–Field Level Media
