Kansas City Royals (14-28, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (27-17, first in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 7:40 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Daniel Lynch (2-3, 4.01 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 31 strikeouts); Twins: Devin Smeltzer (1-0, 1.74 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, two strikeouts)
LINE: Twins -183, Royals +156; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals enter the matchup with the Minnesota Twins after losing six games in a row.
Minnesota has a 15-9 record at home and a 27-17 record overall. The Twins are 19-1 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Kansas City is 6-13 in road games and 14-28 overall. The Royals have the 10th-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .297.
Thursday's game is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The Twins are up 4-2 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Max Kepler has six doubles and six home runs for the Twins. Luis Arraez is 15-for-34 with two doubles over the last 10 games.
Whit Merrifield has seven doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI while hitting .215 for the Royals. Andrew Benintendi is 14-for-39 with three doubles over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 8-2, .250 batting average, 3.00 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
Royals: 2-8, .267 batting average, 5.66 ERA, outscored by 19 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Joe Ryan: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Cody Stashak: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Winder: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Miguel Sano: 60-Day IL (knee), Chris Paddack: 60-Day IL (elbow), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (left hip), Jhon Romero: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jorge Alcala: 60-Day IL (elbow), Randy Dobnak: 60-Day IL (finger), Kenta Maeda: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Royals: Kyle Isbel: day-to-day (illness), Emmanuel Rivera: day-to-day (illness), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Michael A. Taylor: 10-Day IL (illness), Salvador Perez: 10-Day IL (thumb), Edward Olivares: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Cam Gallagher: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Brentz: 10-Day IL (flexor), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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