Twins go from facing seventh-inning no-hit bid to MLB's 34th 'ultimate' grand slam
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.
There 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 no-hit through six innings.
It was also only the 15th ultimate grand slam with two outs (an ultimate-ultimate grand slam?), which is rarer 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 what was to come. Jeffers took a high changeup and dropped an easy single into right-center field.
Ryan Jeffers breaks up Noah Cameron's no-hitter in the seventh inning pic.twitter.com/2N4fykyWtS
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 30, 2026
Cameron remained in the game and finished two more innings. His final line was 8 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts, the best start of the second-year pitcher's career.
It should have been enough for a win. The Royals opted to pull the left-hander at 97 pitches after the eighth inning and turned to Lucas Erceg for the save. Erceg got the first two outs with a strikeout of Trevor Larnach and a lineout by Victor Caratini, and then everything went wrong for Kansas City.
Erceg hit Jeffers with a second-pitch sinker, allowed a single to Royce Lewis and walked Josh Bell to load the bases. Manager Matt Quatraro pulled him in favor of southpaw Matt Strahm, who had the platoon advantage against the left-handed Clemens.
Strahm has struggled heavily this year, but he has been decently effective against lefties, who entered Thursday slashing .235/.264/.353 against him. Strahm snuck in a low sinker for a called strike 1, then challenged Clemens higher in the zone for a foul ball and strike 2. And then, well ...
INJECT THIS INTO OUR VEINS pic.twitter.com/6msj3kR2P8
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 30, 2026
It's the most thrilling win of the season for the Twins, who have been one of MLB's more surprising teams just by playing .500 ball.
Their win Thursday improves their record to 55-55 and puts them only three games back from the Chicago White Sox for first in the AL Central and one game back from the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL wild-card spot.
