Five Keys to Kansas City Royals Winning Series Versus Minnesota

No. 4 Avoid the Big Inning

The Kansas City Royals no doubt remember the shellacking the Twins handed them on Saturday. Minnesota put up four runs in the first inning and 10 in the second to put the game out of reach early.

Kansas City Royals

It took two pitchers just to get through the first inning. Then came a patchwork job to just get through the nine innings.

But it wasn’t the only time during the series that Minnesota jumped out in front. The Twins plated two i the first inning and one in the third on Friday. Luckily for the Kansas City Royals, they put together a big five-run third frame themselves. In Sunday’s series-finale, the Royals stuck first again with a run in the fourth before the teams began exchanging two-run innings.

The moral of the story: With an offense like the one Minnesota has, don’t let them get started early.

The Twins have way more firepower than the Kansas City Royals. The Boys in Blue are unlikely to win a shootout with their Central Division rival. They need to keep Minnesota in the area of five runs to be able to expect a win.

But with the pitching match-ups this weekend presents, that could be a tough ask. One could argue the Twins have an advantage in all four games. Kyle Gibson easily has the advantage over Gaviglio, Ervin Santana is clearly favored over Kennedy, Junis is at least close to even with Jose Berrios and Bartolo Colon has been much better than Vargas recently.

Depending on how the starting pitching goes, it could be a long weekend.