April 8, 1969 – The Royals play their first game in the history of the franchise and joins the winner circle along with the other three new clubs making their debuts today. Reliever Moe Drabowsky picks up the win as Kansas City beat the Twins in 12 innings, 4-3 in Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
Losing to a lowly expansion team in the first game he ever managed must have really stuck in Twins skipper Billy Martin‘s craw. Who had the first ever Royals hit? That would be our old friend Lou Piniella, check out the boxscore for more interesting names that you might remember from that era. Boxscore
The Twins will play the World Champion Kansas City Royals later today at Kauffman Stadium looking for their first win of the season. Over the years the Twins and Royals have hooked-up 733 times and the Twins have beaten the Royals 380 times and lost 353 times for a .518 winning percentage. Even though the Twins have beaten KC 27 more times than they have lost the run differential favors the Twins by only 15 runs so many of the games over the past 47 years have been close ones. The Twins have a 199-166 record at home against the Royals and on the road they are 181-187.
If you want to see a history of all the Twins/Royals match-ups you can go here.