Brooks Lee comes up clutch as Twins rally for comeback win over Royals to end losing streak

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

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ryan Jeffers joked the Twins seem to have a phobia of a .500 record, but they have no such problem embracing dramatic moments.

When the Twins were within five outs of being swept by the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, experiencing an ugly offensive series at Kauffman Stadium, they rallied in the eighth inning for a comeback 4-3 victory to snap their four-game losing streak.

Batting with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning, Brooks Lee poked a go-ahead, two-run single through the right side of the infield. Lee clapped his hands and celebrated by chest bumping first-base coach Grady Sizemore.

Andrew Morris and Yoendrys Gómez pitched the final two innings to close out the win. Gómez issued a leadoff walk in the ninth, but he picked off pinch runner Tyler Tolbert at first base.

The Twins sit a half-game behind Texas for the American League’s final wild-card spot, and there’s been some frustration they haven’t put themselves in a better position with other playoff hopefuls stumbling after the trade deadline.

They have a 2-4 record on their current road trip with a three-game series in Milwaukee beginning Friday.

“Whenever you go through a lull offensively, you always internalize it and think, like, what are we not doing?” Twins manager Derek Shelton said before Thursday’s game. “Then you realize Seattle has the best starting pitching in baseball, and Noah Cameron has given us fits and pitched very well against us.

“I’m trying to take the 15 years of being a hitting coach and not internalize, OK, we’ve really changed things. We’ve been pitched to a little bit. Now, on the flip side, we do have to be a little bit more consistent in some of the things we’re doing.”

The Twins totaled four runs during the first 25 innings of their series against the last-place Royals. Down by two runs in the eighth inning, their offense finally came to life. They had six straight batters reach base in the eighth inning after compiling seven baserunners through the first seven innings.

Luke Keaschall started the decisive rally with a single against Royals lefty Aaron Bummer. Jeffers, pinch hitting for Kody Clemens, drew a nine-pitch walk, and Josh Bell followed with an RBI single that he bounced through the right side of the infield.

After Royce Lewis was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Lee came up with his big hit against right-hander Nate Pearson. Alex Jackson, who entered as a pinch runner for Bell, slid past a tag at the plate to score the lead run.

Lewis hit a solo homer off Michael Wacha in the fifth inning, an estimated 421-foot moonshot over the left-field fence. Lewis, on an 11-game hit streak and a 17-game on-base streak, added two lineouts to end a nine-pitch at-bat and a 12-pitch at-bat.

Twins starter Bailey Ober gave up three runs and six hits across six innings.

Ober allowed three consecutive two-out singles in the third inning, which cost him two runs. Carter Jensen lined a single to right field on a change-up that caught too much of the plate. Bobby Witt Jr. went above the strike zone to slap a two-strike single to center on an 86-mph fastball.

After Witt stole second base, putting two runners in scoring position, Jac Caglianone golfed a low change-up into right field for a two-run single. Two hits on pitches out of the strike zone and a two-run deficit.

Ober retired seven straight batters after Caglianone’s hit before Witt lined a leadoff double to center in the sixth inning. Witt advanced to third on a groundout, and he scored when Salvador Perez poked a ground ball past a drawn-in infield for an RBI single.