In the bottom of the 5th, MJ Melendez stayed in the batter’s box after the count went to 3-0. The score was 0-0, Zack Greinke was cruising on the other side, and Twins starter Pablo Lopez was on the ropes with bases loaded and just one out. With the new pitch clock, he had no time to take a breath.billige MLB Trøjer
Three pitches later, the inning was over. A few moments later, Byron Buxton tripled, the Twins scored the first two runs of the game, and that was seemingly all she wrote, as the Royals fell to Minnesota 2-0 on Opening Day.
It was just the third shutout in franchise history on Opening Day. The last happening in 2017 against the A’s and the other in 1971 against these same Twins. Kansas City falls to 0-1 while the Twins improve to 1-0. The Royals managed just two hits.
Both teams started slow offensively, but the pitch clock kept things moving, with the first three innings taking just over 45 minutes, a brisk 2:15 pace. First-time Opening Day starter Lopez mowed through the first seven Royals before a one-out walk from Kyle Isbel gave Kansas City its first base runner in the 3rd.
He found himself in scoring position for Bobby Witt Jr. with two outs in the inning, the first offensive action of the season. It was short lived with Witt stranding him on an ugly strikeout to keep the game scoreless.St. Louis Cardinals Trøjer 2023
Minnesota didn’t have much run-scoring luck across the first several innings, with Royals starter Zack Greinke getting seven swings and misses from the Twins’ first 12 batters. That’s a pretty good number compared to last season.
They put Zack in some precarious situations, including a bases-loaded jam in the 1st inning, but he kept his pitch count under control and managed to keep Minnesota off the board early as Kansas City’s offense struggled to get going. One of those baserunners came via this interesting error from MJ Melendez in the 2nd.
