Eric Orze can't lock down save as Royals come back in ninth to beat Twins 3-2

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jun 6, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — In a pitchers’ duel at Target Field on Saturday, it was a throw toward second base from Minnesota Twins reliever Eric Orze that may have been the costliest in a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

Orze entered the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He immediately found himself in trouble after Isaac Collins hit a leadoff single and pinch runner Tyler Tolbert promptly stole second base. Orze was given a gift when Josh Rojas hit a comebacker to the mound, but then he made the wrong choice.

Tolbert was briefly caught between second and third base, so Orze fired a throw to second. Tolbert was safe, and the Twins recorded no outs on a ball that didn’t leave the infield. After a sacrifice bunt, Tolbert scored on a sacrifice fly and Bobby Witt Jr. delivered the go-ahead hit with a line-drive RBI single that floated just above a leaping Orlando Arcia at shortstop.

Orze blew the save, and the Twins were handed their third loss in the past four days.

The Twins, who totaled four hits, took a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Orlando Arcia hit a pinch-hit solo homer off Royals lefty reliever Matt Strahm. It was Arcia’s first homer in a Twins uniform after his older brother, Oswaldo, hit 40 homers for the Twins from 2013 to ’16.

Kody Clemens hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning, but he didn’t advance. Royals closer Alex Lange struck out three of the next four batters, including a called third strike against Royce Lewis for the final out.

Twins staff ace Joe Ryan allowed one run over six innings, and the run came on his sixth pitch of the afternoon. Carter Jensen hit a leadoff homer, sending a curveball over the right-field wall. Ryan immediately dropped to a knee on the mound when saw Jensen’s swing.

Ryan, who yielded six hits and two walks, alternated between dominance and a pitcher laboring through an 82-degree day. After giving up a one-out single to Vinnie Pasquantino in the first inning, Ryan retired seven consecutive batters.

The Royals stranded two runners on base in the fourth inning, unable to capitalize on a Lewis throwing error as he tried to complete a double play. They loaded the bases in the sixth inning through two singles and a two-out walk, but Ryan escaped when he induced a one-hop grounder to himself on his 102nd pitch.

Ryan made his first All-Star team last year, and he’s trending toward a repeat trip this summer. Excluding a nine-pitch start that ended prematurely because of an injury scare, Ryan has completed at least six innings while giving up two or fewer runs in six of his last seven outings.

It took the Twins 14 batters before they recorded their first hit off Royals right-hander Luinder Avila, who is moving from a multi-inning reliever into a starter.

Austin Martin hit a leadoff single in the fifth inning, Victor Caratini hit a double off the right-field wall and Lewis, back in the majors after a 2½-week demotion to Class AAA St. Paul, drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.

The Twins scored a run when a lineout to center from Tristan Gray turned into a sacrifice fly, tying the score, but they squandered a chance for a bigger rally when Ryan Kreidler bounced into an inning-ending double play.

It was Gray’s 11th plate appearance with the bases loaded this season, which is tied for the seventh most in the league. Brooks Lee (14 plate appearances) ranks first in the majors, and Luke Keaschall (13) is second, which highlights how often the Twins load the bases.

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