Kansas City Royals (15-9, first in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (9-15, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Saturday, 2:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Danny Duffy (3-1, .39 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 27 strikeouts) Twins: Matt Shoemaker (1-2, 5.49 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 14 strikeouts)
LINE: Twins -123, Royals +106; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota and Kansas City will square off on Saturday.
The Twins are 4-3 against teams from the AL Central. Minnesota has slugged .412, good for third in the American League. Byron Buxton leads the team with a .897 slugging percentage, including 16 extra-base hits and eight home runs.
The Royals are 6-3 against AL Central Division opponents. Kansas City has hit 22 home runs this season, the lowest total in the American League. Carlos Santana leads them with six, averaging one every 14.2 at-bats.
The Twins won the last meeting 9-1. Michael Pineda earned his second victory and Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs for Minnesota. Brady Singer registered his third loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Buxton leads the Twins with 16 extra base hits and is batting .426.
Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 11 extra base hits and 13 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 3-7, .226 batting average, 4.52 ERA, outscored by four runs
Royals: 6-4, .218 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored by five runs
INJURIES: Twins: Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Miguel Sano: (hamstring).
Royals: Brady Singer: (foot), Jesse Hahn: (right shoulder), Adalberto Mondesi: (right oblique strain).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
