KC Royals Begin Important Series Against Minnesota Twins

Today is the eighth day of June, and as the KC Royals begin an eight game road trip through Minneapolis, St. Louis and Milwaukee, they find themselves in second place. These teams last saw one another twice in a nine day period in April.

Salvador Perez leads the Royals into Minneapolis against the division leading Twins for a three game series starting tonight. Photo Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota has gone a remarkable 28-16 while KC is 22-20 between series against the Twins. Separated by just a game, it should be a fun match-up to watch this week.

Probable Pitching Match-ups:
Monday, 7:10 pm – Jason Vargas/LHP (4-2, 4.79) v. Phil Hughes/RHP (4-5, 4.96)
Tuesday, 7:10 pm – Chris Young/RHP (4-2, 2.56) v. Trevor May/RHP (4-3, 4.45)
Wednesday, 7:10 pm – Edinson Volquez/RHP (4-4, 3.26) v. Kyle Gibson/RHP (4-3, 3.00)

Comments on Pitching Match-ups – No pitching match-up leans heavily towards one team or the other this week in my opinion. Wednesday sticks out only due to both pitcher having similar stats.

Game 1: Vargas is coming off a win against Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber, which was the lone win that series. Hughes has been a thorn in the Royals side for years it seems like he always pitches well when he faces them.
Game 2: Young is 0-2 over his last two starts losing at New York then versus Cleveland which has seen his ERA jump up to 2.56 from 0.78. May is another Twins pitcher that seems to struggled against everyone but the KC Royals, he’s 4-3 so far.
Game 3: Volquez threw well against Texas but suffered the loss on Friday night however he received no offensive support. Gibson the Missouri alum is Minnesota’s top Royal killer for their staff the past season plus which fit the theme for Minny’s starters this series.

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Series Predictions – Offense, where are you? Against the Rangers, the Royals scored just six runs dropping two of three games. So far in 2015, both teams have won series at their own ballparks, so it’s tough to say what’ll occur this week. Minnesota is the hottest team in baseball, which sounds familiar given how Texas came in this weekend at the K. As stated, can the offense figure it out, Salvador Perez does enter this series hitting home runs back-to-back days but who else shows up? Prediction: Twins take two of three

2015 Meetings:
Kansas City walloped the Twins on their opening day 12-3 then dropped the next two games at Target Field 3-1 and 8-5. At Kauffman Stadium the next week KC won games one and two 7-1, 6-5 before dropping game three 3-0.

Franchise History:
The Twins hold an all-time series advantage of 376-344 with a mark of 199-160 in the Twin Cities, including a 27-23 mark at Target Field.

TV/Radio Coverage:
FOX Sports Kansas City will broadcast all three games with Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler on the call. Royals Live can be seen on FSKC before and after with host Joel Goldberg from Target Field.

The Royals Radio Network (610 Sports in Kansas City) will have Royals Hall of Famer/2007 Ford C. Frick Award winner Denny Matthews who’ll be joined by Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Stewart describing all the action from the Twin Cities.

2015 Series Schedule/Results v. Twins (Series Tied 3-3)
April 13-16, Target Field – W 12-3, L 3-1, L 8-5
April 20-22, Kauffman Stadium – W 7-1, W 6-5, L 3-0
June 8-10, Target Field
July 2-5, Kauffman Stadium
September 7-9, Kauffman Stadium
October 2-4, Target Field

Game Notes:
Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals

Next: Royals Rewind: Salvador Perez Does It Again

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