Twins quieted by left-hander Kris Bubic, Royals in 3-1 loss

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 30, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The Kansas City Royals moved in the fences at Kauffman Stadium by about 10 feet over the winter, starting from each foul pole before tapering to the original 410-foot distance in center field from home plate.

It was prompted by the Royals front office, which researched ways to benefit the team’s offense in a ballpark that is known for doubles and triples but is one of the most difficult places in the majors to hit homers.

The Twins would just settle for any offense. After a 3-1 loss to the Royals on Monday, they have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their past 11 games at Kauffman Stadium.

They totaled only four hits and had only one at-bat with a runner on second base.

Kyle Isbel, the Royals’ No. 9 hitter, drilled a go-ahead, two-run homer off Simeon Woods Richardson in the second inning, and Isaac Collins hit a solo homer off left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk in the seventh inning.

Matt Wallner gave the Twins an early lead with a 424-foot, solo homer in the second inning, launching an 84-mph sweeper from Royals left-handed starter Kris Bubic into the Kauffman Stadium fountains in right field. It was Wallner’s first home run of the season.

The Twins’ lead lasted only four batters into the bottom half of the second inning. Woods Richardson surrendered a lead-off single to Jonathan India, then served up a two-run homer to Isbel on a slider, two pitches after Isbel swung and missed on a slider that dipped below the plate.

Woods Richardson, making his first start of the season, yielded five hits and two runs in five innings with one walk and two strikeouts. He retired nine of his final 10 batters.

“I thought he slowed himself down,” manager Derek Shelton told reporters in Kansas City. “I thought early he was going a little bit fast, then he got into the rhythm of the game. I think that’s normal for your first start of the year.”

It just wasn’t good enough to match Bubic, who gave up two hits and one run in six innings.

The Royals added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Collins pulled a changeup from Funderburk in a 2-0 count over the left-field fence. It was the first hit of the year for Collins, who was traded from Milwaukee to Kansas City during the offseason.

The Twins have dropped three of their first four games of the season.

Turning point

In a game in which the Twins didn’t even threaten with a meaningful rally, Austin Martin opened the game with a single to end a six-pitch at-bat.

Before Byron Buxton, the next batter, had a chance to finish his at-bat, Bubic picked off Martin as he started to run toward second base. The Twins ran into three outs on the bases in Sunday’s 8-6 loss at Baltimore, and they lost one of their few baserunners in the first inning Monday.

“We’re going to be aggressive on the bases,” Shelton said. “It was a situation we’re going to run, and they picked the right pitch to pick him.”

Stat of the day

The left-handed Bubic had given up only two homers to lefty batters over the last three seasons entering his season debut Monday. Wallner, who had four home runs against lefty pitchers last season, hit a homer in Bubic’s first at-bat against a lefty this year.

Up next

After a day off Tuesday, the Twins will play their first night game when they face the Royals at 7:40 p.m. ET Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium.

Joe Ryan, who gave up one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings on Opening Day against the Orioles, is scheduled to make his second start of the season. Ryan has an 8-1 record and a 2.02 ERA in 11 career starts against Kansas City.

Royals left-hander Noah Cameron is set to make his season debut. He had a 9-7 record and a 2.99 ERA during his rookie season last year, which included two starts against the Twins (one run in 12 1/3 innings).

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