By MATT PIKE
Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens homered and the Minnesota Twins beat Kansas City 5-1 on Sunday to drop the Royals two games back for the last AL wild card.
Buxton led off the game against Michael Lorenzen with his 30th homer, extending his career high. Clemens hit his 16th home run in the fourth, a 451-drive that gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead. Minnesota padded its advantage in the sixth inning with a double steal, with Royce Lewis stealing second base and Luke Keaschall taking home plate.
Kansas City scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s RBI single in the sixth, driving in Maikel Garcia. A bases loaded walk by Daniel Lynch in the seventh inning gave the Twins their final run, Matt Wallner walking and Edouard Julien coming home to score.
Lorenzen fell to 5-10 on the season with the loss, allowing four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. At the plate, the Mike Yastrzemski was 2-for-5 with a double. Garcia was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Pasquantino was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Kansas City fell two games behind Seattle (75-68) for the third AL wild card.
Kansas City hits the road now and heads to Cleveland for a four game series. Ryan Bergert (2-1, 2.61) for the Royals taking on Slade Cecconi (5-6, 4.78) for the Guardians. First pitch is at 5:40pm with pregame coverage starting at 5 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
