Kansas City Royals (24-25, third in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (20-30, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Saturday, 2:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Ervin Santana (0-0, 2.20 ERA, .98 WHIP, 10 strikeouts) Twins: J.A. Happ (2-2, 5.44 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 30 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Carlos Santana and the Royals will take on the Twins Saturday.
The Twins are 9-12 against teams from the AL Central. Minnesota has hit 69 home runs this season, sixth in the American League. Nelson Cruz leads the team with 10, averaging one every 15.1 at-bats.
The Royals are 12-17 in division games. Kansas City has hit 44 home runs this season, last in the American League. Carlos Santana leads them with 10, averaging one every 16.6 at-bats.
The Royals won the last meeting 8-3. Kris Bubic notched his first victory and Whit Merrifield went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs for Kansas City. Randy Dobnak took his fourth loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Cruz leads the Twins with 43 hits and has 24 RBIs.
Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 53 hits and has 29 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 6-4, .219 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
Royals: 6-4, .234 batting average, 3.34 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
INJURIES: Twins: Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Kenta Maeda: (groin), Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Shaun Anderson: (quad), Jake Cave: (back), Byron Buxton: (hip), Luis Arraez: (shoulder).
Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Josh Staumont: (knee), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Danny Duffy: (forearm).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
