Twins 4, Royals 3: Clemens' Walk-Off Grand Slam Erases Eight Perfect Innings

Cameron dominated eight innings. Clemens won the ninth

July 30, 2026, Target Field, Minneapolis: Noah Cameron had faced Minnesota for eight innings and allowed one hit. The Twins had scored nothing. Kansas City led 3-0. The night looked finished.

Lucas Erceg retired the first two batters of the ninth. Then Ryan Jeffers was hit by a pitch. Royce Lewis singled. Josh Bell walked, and Alan Roden entered as a pinch runner. Matt Strahm took over with the bases loaded and two outs. Kody Clemens fell behind 0-2, then drove a slider to right-center for a grand slam.

Target Field went from quiet to loud in one swing. Minnesota won 4-3. Cameron's masterpiece became the setup for the collapse.

The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3. Yoendrys Gómez earned the win. Strahm took the loss.

Cameron threw the start of the month and still left without a win

Cameron worked eight innings on 97 pitches. He allowed one hit, two walks, and no earned runs. He struck out seven.

Minnesota's only hit against him came early enough that it never threatened. Cameron retired the side in order repeatedly and kept Target Field waiting for a rally that did not arrive until he was gone.

Jac Caglianone had already given him a lead. John Rave and Carter Jensen added another run. Cameron handed a 3-0 lead to Lucas Erceg in the ninth and walked off the mound with every reason to expect a win.

He did not get one.

Erceg and Strahm turned eight zeros into four Minnesota runs

Erceg recorded the first two outs of the ninth. Then the inning opened. He hit Jeffers, allowed Lewis's single, and walked Bell. Roden pinch-ran. The bases were loaded, and Kansas City still led 3-0.

Strahm entered and threw three pitches. He got a called strike and a foul to go ahead 0-2, then Clemens hit a slider for his 19th homer, a grand slam that scored Jeffers, Lewis, Roden, and Clemens. The Twins led 4-3. The game ended there.

That was the full Kansas City bullpen sequence. Cameron's eight innings vanished after two outs in the ninth.

Caglianone built the lead. Clemens erased it

Caglianone went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the third. Rave finished 2-for-3, scored once, and doubled home Jensen in the fifth. Isaac Collins and Tyler Tolbert each had two hits. Kansas City finished with eight hits and three runs.

Minnesota finished with four hits and four runs. Lewis's ninth-inning single loaded the table for Clemens. Clemens finished 1-for-4 with four RBIs and the only Minnesota extra-base hit that counted.

Bailey Ober had kept Kansas City close enough. He allowed two earned runs over six innings. Taylor Rogers and Andrew Morris threw scoreless innings. Gómez worked a scoreless ninth before the walk-off and earned the win.

The Twins did not outhit Kansas City. They outlasted it.

AthX Engine put Cameron first among all pitchers

AthX Engine, AthX's projection and scoring system, gave Cameron 30 pitching fantasy points (FP), the highest pitching total on the July 30 slate. Clemens scored eight hitting FP on the grand slam. Minnesota finished with eight team FP.

Those marks measure daily performance under AthX Engine scoring. Dynamic pricing also accounts for market activity and other price inputs. A 30-FP start can matter even when the pitcher does not get the win.

Minnesota steals a series chapter Kansas City thought it owned

The Twins improved to 55-55 and took another walk-off win from Kansas City at Target Field. The Royals fell to 46-64 after watching their best start of the week disappear in the ninth.

Cameron deserved a different ending. Clemens wrote the one Target Field will remember.

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*Sources: MLB.com schedule, MLB Gameday final, ESPN box score, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*