Minnesota Twins (22-34, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (28-26, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Matt Shoemaker (2-6, 5.90 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 33 strikeouts) Royals: Brad Keller (5-4, 5.68 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 46 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota enters the matchup as losers of their last three games.
The Royals are 14-18 against opponents from the AL Central. The Kansas City offense has compiled a .243 batting average as a team this season, good for eighth in the majors. Andrew Benintendi leads the team with a mark of .297.
The Twins are 10-14 against AL Central Division opponents. Minnesota has slugged .423, good for third in the majors. Nelson Cruz leads the team with a .494 slugging percentage, including 17 extra-base hits and 10 home runs.
The Royals won the last meeting 6-5. Jakob Junis secured his second victory and Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs for Kansas City. Hansel Robles registered his second loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Perez leads the Royals with 14 home runs and is batting .284.
Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 19 extra base hits and 23 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .267 batting average, 3.36 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs
Twins: 5-5, .241 batting average, 4.60 ERA, outscored by four runs
INJURIES: Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Josh Staumont: (knee), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Danny Duffy: (forearm), Adalberto Mondesi: (hamstring).
Twins: Caleb Thielbar: (groin), Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Kenta Maeda: (groin), Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Rob Refsnyder: (concussion), Max Kepler: (hamstring), Jake Cave: (back), Byron Buxton: (hip), Luis Arraez: (shoulder), Mitch Garver: (groin).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
