Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
KC	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	12	0
MIN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0

Joe Ryan finally got the ball back after Minnesota shut him down with arm fatigue following a franchise-worst six-homer meltdown against Cleveland. He drew Randy Dobnak, a soft-tossing sinkerballer who's been nearly untouchable this year, and the Royals needed his 1.08 ERA to hold given how thin their lineup has gotten.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Royals(45-63)

LWWLL

4

+1.5-108+178o8.5-125

Twins(54-54)

WWWLW

0

-1.5+106-182u8.5+125

Best BetTwins -178

Postgame

Busted hard — the Royals shut Minnesota out 4-0, with Ryan's rust outweighing the Twins' hot streak.

Pregame

We took the Twins at -176 off a five-game surge that included a walk-off win the night before, and the number has since steamed to -195 as the market leaned even harder into Minnesota. That price banked on Joe Ryan looking sharp off rest and the shorthanded Royals lineup folding — instead Dobnak silenced the home bats completely.

Minnesota was riding a real wave into this one — Royce Lewis had walked it off the night before while Byron Buxton limped out of that same game with a sore hip and didn't play Wednesday. Kansas City, meanwhile, is still without Bobby Witt Jr., who's been dealing with back stiffness and spasms since late July, plus Vinnie Pasquantino scratched with a hand issue just before first pitch.

Randy Dobnak

(2-1)·2.00 ERA

Jul 23 @ Tigers

ND

5.0IP

0ER

3K

1BB

76P

07/29 Lineup

Joe Ryan

(6-8)·3.65 ERA

Jul 20 @ Guardians

L

4.0IP

8ER

3K

0BB

78P

07/29 Lineup

On paper this looked like a Twins team pulling away from a last-place club running out of healthy bodies. The board agreed, with Minnesota juiced up as the clear favorite on the moneyline and run line off its five-game surge.

Kansas City Royals

(45-63)

Jul 28L@ Twins2-3

Jul 26W@ Tigers5-4

Jul 25W@ Tigers3-2

Jul 24L@ Tigers1-2

Jul 23L@ Tigers3-4

Minnesota Twins

(54-54)

Jul 28Wvs Royals3-2

Jul 26Wvs Athletics11-8

Jul 25Wvs Athletics2-0

Jul 25Lvs Athletics0-2

Jul 23W@ Guardians3-1

None of it showed up on the field. The Royals strung together 12 hits and scratched across single runs in the 3rd and 4th before breaking it open with a two-run 5th, and Minnesota's lineup never got anything going against Dobnak.

Five hits and zero runs is about as flat as a home crowd can get, and it's a rough follow-up to a walk-off high just 24 hours earlier. The Twins are still sitting at .500 with real injury questions in the outfield, and this one's a reminder that a hot streak against a shorthanded opponent doesn't guarantee anything once the other team's pitcher shows up dealing.

Kansas City Royals

(14)

• 10-Day-ILMaikel Garcia (3B) — Garcia felt renewed pain in his left hand while playing in a rehab game at Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.07/29
• 10-Day-ILVinnie Pasquantino (1B) — Pasquantino (hand) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Twins.07/29
• 10-Day-ILBobby Witt Jr. (SS) — Witt (back) has begun ramping up his baseball activity, and how he responds over the next few days will determine whether he's activated from the injured list when first eligible Friday, per MLB.com.07/29
• 10-Day-ILKyle Isbel (CF) — Isbel (foot) went 1-for-2 with an RBI triple and a run scored with Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.07/22
• 15-Day-ILBeck Way (RP) — The Royals placed Way on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with back spasms.07/28
• 15-Day-ILConnor Seabold (RP) — The Royals placed Seabold on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a right lat strain.07/01
• 60-Day-ILNick Mears (RP) — Mears (shoulder/lat) began throwing from 60 feet Monday, MLB.com reports.07/29
• 60-Day-ILKris Bubic (SP) — Bubic (elbow/shoulder) began a throwing progression Friday with 30 throws from 45-to-60 feet, MLB.com reports.07/25
• 60-Day-ILStephen Kolek (SP) — The Royals reinstated Kolek (personal) from the family medical leave list and placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to a right flexor strain.07/22
• 60-Day-ILCarlos Estevez (RP) — Estevez (shoulder) started a throwing program Friday, per MLB.com.07/18
• 60-Day-ILCole Ragans (SP) — Ragans underwent UCL repair surgery on his left elbow Wednesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.07/02
• 60-Day-ILJonathan India (2B) — no06/04
• 60-Day-ILJames McArthur (RP) — McArthur (elbow) underwent surgery Friday to help combat continued soreness and inflammation, MLB.com reports.05/25
• 60-Day-ILAlec Marsh (SP) — The Royals placed Marsh (shoulder) on the 60-day injured list Thursday.05/08

Minnesota Twins

(8)

• 10-Day-ILByron Buxton (CF) — Buxton (hip) is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.07/29
• 15-Day-ILCole Sands (RP) — Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said Tuesday that Sands (elbow) is expected to miss the rest of the season, Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.07/29
• 15-Day-ILMike Paredes (SP) — The Twins placed Paredes (oblique) on the 15-day injured list Sunday.07/26
• 15-Day-ILAnthony Banda (RP) — Banda underwent surgery to repair his left lat strain and will miss the remainder of the 2026 season, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.07/09
• 60-Day-ILDavid Festa (SP) — Festa (shoulder) will undergo a season-ending double surgery Wednesday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.07/29
• 60-Day-ILMick Abel (SP) — The Twins plan to re-evaluate Abel (elbow) on Sept. 1, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.07/20
• 60-Day-ILGarrett Acton (RP) — Acton (shoulder) struck out a batter and allowed three earned runs on one hit and three walks over two-thirds of an inning in a rehab appearance Tuesday in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.07/15
• 60-Day-ILPablo Lopez (SP) — The Twins placed Lopez (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Thursday.05/08

Kansas City won't sneak up on anybody with a 45-63 record, but nights like this are exactly why Matt Quatraro's group keeps hanging around. Get Witt back healthy and this rotation depth starts to matter a lot more than the record suggests.