The Minnesota Twins' game on Thursday took a turn about as large as you will ever see in Major League Baseball.
After six innings, the Twins were getting no-hit by Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Noah Cameron. After nine innings, they were celebrating something called an "ultimate grand slam," which is a walk-off grand slam to erase a three-run deficit, off the bat of Kody Clemens.
They have been only 34 ultimate grand slams in MLB history. Per MLB.com's Sarah Langs, none of the first 33 came from a team that was getting no-hit through six innings.
It was also only the 15th ultimate grand slam with two outs (an ultimate ultimate grand slam), which is more rare than a perfect game. And Clemens was down 0-2 when wood hit ball, making this rarer still. We're basically talking about the kind of home run that 7-year-olds fantasize about while hitting in their backyard.
Cameron allowed his first hit to Ryan Jeffers to lead off the seventh inning, triggering a cheer from a Target Field crowd that had no idea of what was to come. Jeffers took a high changeup and hit dropped an easy single into right-center field.

#clemens

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis hit a two-run triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Minnesota Twins a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Taj Bradley threw six strong innings for the Twins (54-54), who have won three in a row and five of six. They are third in the AL Cental, just two games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox.
Kody Clemens doubled for Minnesota in the fourth and scored on Josh Bell's single. But center fielder Byron Buxton left in the fifth with right hip soreness after running to first base. It's the same joint that caused him to miss the All-Star Game this month.
Kansas City went ahead 2-1 in the sixth when Josh Rojas stole home on the front end of a double steal and Salvador Perez had an RBI single.
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#first

The Twins offense tonight could only be described as groundball happy, get ready to read the words "double play" about a million times. In the 1st, 2 on and 1 out, Kody Clemens hits into an inning ending double play. In the 2nd inning, Luke Keaschall ends the inning with their second double play.
They finally broke through in the 4th inning, after Clemens doubled and Josh Bell hit an RBI single to put the Twins up 1-0. In the bottom of the 5th Alan Roden hits into the 3rd Twin-killer of the night.
In the top of the 6th, Josh Rojas and Lane Thomas did a double steal, with Rojas stealing home. I wasn't there to see it but Gameday says it happened. Two batters later, the Twin killer himself, Salvador Perez, hit the go-ahead RBI single to put the Royals up 2-1.
The Twins rallied again, with Clemens HBP and Bell singling to center with Clemens going 1st-to-3rd on the play. Then Victor Caratini ended the inning by, you guessed it, hitting into the 4th double play of the night. I'm so glad I missed almost all of this game because that had to be depressing.
What wasn't depressing was the performance of Taj Bradley and the bullpen tonight. Taj racked up 10 strikeouts in his 6 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks. Then Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams, and Jack Anderson combined for 3 innings of shutout pitching, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4.

#clemens #kody #twin

SV Werder Bremen have completed the signing of 22-year-old centre-back Oskar Wójcik from Polish side KS Cracovia.
“Oskar was one of the standout players in the Polish league last season. We have been following him for some time. We are delighted that the opportunity has now arisen to sign him and that he has decided to become part of the Werder family,” said Werder Bremen's managing director for sport, Clemens Fritz.
Head coach Daniel Thioune had the following to say about the new arrival:
“Oskar has made excellent progress and enjoyed a breakthrough season in the Polish Ekstraklasa last year. He brings a lot of qualities as a centre-back and can start to play an important role for us straight away.”
Wójcik, who made his senior international debut for Poland in May, said:

Alan Roden delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in his season debut, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, July 8, in Minneapolis.
Roden finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs one day after Minnesota promoted him from Triple-A Saint Paul. Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Twins, who increased their winning streak to four games.
Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in three runs for the Guardians, who took their fourth loss in a row. Rhys Hoskins added a solo home run.
Twins reliever Yoendrys Gomez (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Gomez notched his 10th save one night earlier as the Twins won the series opener 3-1.
Guardians reliever Matt Festa (2-2) allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Kody Clemens went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Austin Martin and Brooks Lee added one RBI apiece for Minnesota, which took the opener of a three-game series. The Twins have won three games in a row.
Rhys Hoskins hit a solo homer for Cleveland's only run. Chase DeLauter went 2-for-3 with a double for the Guardians, who dropped their third straight game.
Twins right-hander Taj Bradley (8-3) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 without a walk.
Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo (7-4) took the hard-luck loss after allowing two unearned runs on six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Taj Bradley allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings, Kody Clemens had two hits and an RBI, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Bradley (8-3), who set a career best with 11 strikeouts in his last outing July 1 at Houston, had swing-and-miss stuff all night, registering a career-high 25 swinging strikes. He allowed three hits and walked none, winning for the third time in his last four starts.
Andrew Morris pitched a perfect eighth inning, while Taylor Rogers and Yoendrys Gómez combined on a scoreless ninth for the Twins, who have won six of their last eight games
Rhys Hoskins homered for the Guardians, who lost their third in a row.
Joey Cantillo (7-4) pitched five innings, giving up two runs — both unearned — on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

With Carlos Rodon on the injured list, the Yankees turned to Brendan Beck as their starter on Saturday.
They had reason for hope as the 27-year-old right-hander had gone 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in June. The right-hander allowed just four earned runs last month and struck out 31 batters in 29 innings.
But Beck's start quickly turned into a disaster en route to an 11-4 Yankees' loss, their eighth loss in nine games. He allowed three runs in the first inning, including a two run homer to Kody Clemens, his 16th of the year
In the second inning, Beck then allowed back-to-back homers to Luke Keaschall (on a four-seam fastball) and to Alex Jackson (on a slider) to fall behind 5-0.
Fans booed Beck heavily.

One of the things that wears on you in stretches like this is the recaps actually start to annoy you. Look, I get it, I’m a silly little baseball blogger, I’m not an ER nurse working a double shift or a teacher paying for their own Elmer’s glue while kids can no longer sound out unfamiliar words. My work here is reasonably low stakes. But my oh my are these games absolute drags to try and ****** yze. The Yankees lost again, badly, because the starter got set on fire and Camilo Doval cannot pitch at the major league level.
11-4 is your holiday final from the Bronx.
For Brendan Beck, it was a hang with ‘em kind of day. Called up to make a spot start with Carlos Rodón moved to the IL yesterday, and it looked like Beck was never comfortable out there. He walked the first man he saw before Byron Buxton put the Twins on the board with a double, only for Kody Clemens to take Beck deep and before an out was recorded, the Yankees were down 3-0.
Minnesota added two more home runs in the second, including Alex Jackson’s first of the year, after the top three in the Yankee order went down smoothly to start their own day. Beck managed to get through the third without further damage, but the team was down 5-0 early. I’ll be honest in that my ****** ysis is somewhat weak today as I was watching Canada put on a masterclass of a first half before fading in the second. Beck’s secondary offerings seem promising but his fastball seems awful flat for an MLB pitcher.
Jasson Domínguez gave us the first offensive sparks of the day, getting the Yankees’ first hit, then second hit and first run a couple innings later:

The Yankees are in the midst of trying to stop a seven-game losing streak with the Twins in town to begin a three-game series. Minnesota took a quick lead off Gerrit Cole thanks to a solo shot by Kody Clemens, but Yankees leadoff hitter Trent Grisham welcomed himself back from the IL by belting a bomb of his own at the start of the game to tie it at 1-1.
Although Cole has since settled down a bit with two scoreless innings, we must now wait before we get baseball again. They've put the tarp on the field at Yankee Stadium with heavy rain expected shortly. The forecast looks like it will clear up in a little while, but for now, it's a rain delay. I would say that I hope it cools people off on this hot, hot day, but it might just end up being steamy. Alas.
We'll keep you all posted with any updates.

In spring training, they tested a system that involved green index cards that were posted in the dugout in the best situations to challenge. Apparently, MLB told them to stop posting cards.
Brewers relief pitcher Abner Uribe was suspended for one game (served on 24 June) for making a WWE gesture called a crotch chop after striking out a batter. Perhaps, he was (and always will be) the only player in the Majors to make that gesture. Will that gesture get him mentioned at the baseball Hall of Fame?
This season, the Brewers and the Diamondbacks ranked in the bottom four teams for home runs (70 and 71 homers in games through 24 June).
This balance in homers contrasted sharply with total runs. The Brewers ranked in the top three teams in total runs (407), while the Diamondbacks are average. In past seasons, the Diamondbacks have ranked high in total runs scored. Perhaps they will break-out in this series. Instead of homers, small-ball will likely decide the winner of the series. The Diamondbacks will be challenged, but could play better than expected.
“To close things out with my three-axis framework, I think that the Brewers sacrificed some Championship Probability Distribution in 2026 in an attempt to push it higher in future years. Their full organization looks better than it did to me last year, even if the major league team isn’t quite as fearsome. I also like how they left spots for breakouts in the infield, outfield, and on the mound because of the way they moved on from good-but-not great players.” — Ben Clemens, March 2026

It’s never a good sign when your first mile feels like you’ve already run a full marathon. For Tatsuyi Imai, the outing was quick and ugly. Twins 8 Astros 3.
Imai’s early game struggles were on full display before an announced crowd of 29,179. In the opening several minutes, Trevor Larnach would double and Josh Bell would hit a ball to dead center that’s still traveling. Bell’s blast would officially become the fifth longest ball hit to center field since the ballyard at 501 Crawford Street opened its doors in 2000. Just like that, it was a 2-0 lead, and the following inning Minnesota would continue the **** ault.
Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee would reach on walks, and then Kody Clemens would do his version of a deep shot to center, and the Twins had put five runs on the board. Clemons has now hit 14 homeruns this season. For good measure, Imai would issue another walk to Josh Bell and mercifully the curtain would come down. Imai’s final line would read: 1.1 IP with 5 earned runs, 5 walks and 4 hits allowed, including 2 HR. In sharp contrast was his counterpart Taj Bradley would record a season high 11 strikeouts, at one point mowing down five in a row.
The Astros scored their initial run thanks to Jose Altuve’s leadoff walk of the game. Altuve would advance to third on Yordan Alvarez’s first hit of the night, eventually scoring on a double play groundout by Isaac Paredes.
The next time there would be signs of life would be in the 6th. Brice Matthews (who replaced Christian Walker, who left the game with lower back stiffness) and Cam Smith would reach base in consecutive fashion to start things. Then Joey Loperfido and Nick Allen would each notch RBI’s singles, cutting the deficit to 7-3 but that would be as close as they’d get.

HOUSTON (AP) — Taj Bradley struck out 11 to tie his career high, Josh Bell, Kody Clemens and Luke Keaschall homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 8-3 on Wednesday night.
Bradley (7-3) allowed a run and four hits and walked four in five innings. After Jose Altuve scored from third base when Isaac Paredes grounded into a double play in the first inning, Bradley recorded 10 consecutive outs by strikeout.
Bell has a career-high 16-game road hitting streak, the longest active streak of its kind in the majors. Trevor Larnach went 3 for 5 with a double and a two-run single.
The Twins have won three consecutive road series for the first time May of 2025.
After Larnach doubled to lead off the game against Tatsuya Imai (5-4) Bell hit a two-out, two-run homer. Clemens hit a 399-foot shot to make it 5-1 in the second.

Red Sox Legend Will Return To Fenway Park To Call Yankees Showdown originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Red Sox royalty will be in the broadcast booth Sunday for the final game of Boston's four-game series with the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.
Sports Business Journal's Austin Karp reports seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens is returning to his old stomping ground to be a broadcast booth ****** yst on NBC's "Sunday Night Baseball."
"The longtime MLBer, who was repped by The Montag Group in making the deal happen, will be the Yankees ****** yst for the game, while Will Middlebrooks will be the Red Sox ****** yst," Karp writes. "Jason Benetti will be on play-by-play. Bob Costas will host the studio show for NBC, with Anthony Rizzo as ****** yst.
"Clemens has done 'SNB' as a guest ****** yst before, having jumped on the 'KayRod' alt-cast in 2022 on ESPN2 alongside Barry Bonds," Karp adds.