Minnesota Twins (71-88, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (73-86, fourth in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: John Gant (5-10, 3.74 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 89 strikeouts) Royals: TBD
LINE: Royals +110, Twins -130; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins head to face the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
The Royals are 38-40 on their home turf. Kansas City has a collective batting average of .248 this season, led by Nicky Lopez with an average of .300.
The Twins are 33-45 on the road. Minnesota has a collective .240 this season, led by Luis Arraez with an average of .284.
The Royals won the last meeting 5-3. Jake Brentz notched his fourth victory and Whit Merrifield went 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI for Kansas City. Jorge Alcala registered his sixth loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 72 extra base hits and is slugging .552.
Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 32 home runs and is batting .269.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 6-4, .255 batting average, 3.69 ERA
Twins: 6-4, .254 batting average, 4.15 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
INJURIES: Royals: Brady Singer: (arm), Mike Minor: (shoulder), Daniel Lynch: (hand), Richard Lovelady: (elbow), Brad Keller: (shoulder), Jakob Junis: (shoulder), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Wade Davis: (shoulder).
Twins: Lewis Thorpe: (shoulder), Cody Stashak: (back), Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Taylor Rogers: (finger), Bailey Ober: (hip), Kenta Maeda: (forearm), Randy Dobnak: (finger), Edwar Colina: (elbow), Rob Refsnyder: (elbow), Alex Kirilloff: (wrist), Kyle Garlick: (hernia).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
