Keys to the series, game times as Kansas City Royals continue home stand against Twins
The Kansas City Royals begin a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night in Kansas City. Their Royals took two of three games from the Twins last weekend in Minnesota for their first series win at Target Field since 2017.
The Royals (27-26) are coming off of a two-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates that pulled their record above .500 for the first time since May 7.
The Twins (22-33) lost back-to-back games to the Baltimore Orioles before making the trip to Kansas City.
The Royals have not announced starting pitchers beyond left-hander Kris Bubic in the series opener on Thursday night.
Series rundown
SCHEDULE: Thursday, 7:10 p.m.; Friday, 7:10 p.m.; Saturday, 3:10 p.m.; Sunday, 1:10 p.m.
PLACE: Kauffman Stadium
PITCHING PROBABLES: Thursday, MIN LHP J.A. Happ (3-2, 5.24) vs. KC LHP Kris Bubic (1-0, 1.52); Friday, MIN RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-6, 5.90) vs. KC RHP Brad Keller (5-4, 5.68); Saturday, MIN RHP José Berrios (5-2, 3.36) vs. KC LHP Mike Minor (4-2, 4.65); Sunday, MIN RHP Michael Pineda (3-3, 3.40) vs. KC RHP Brady Singer (3-4, 5.06).
TV: All four games will be broadcast by Bally Sports Kansas City.
RADIO: All four games will air on KCSP Radio (610 AM).
NOTABLE: The Royals have scored five runs or more in five consecutive games, including last Friday’s series opener in Minnesota. They’re batting .320 (56-for-175) during that stretch.
Keys to the series
The middle of the Royals batting order had one of the most productive days in recent history on Tuesday night. Andrew Benintendi and Salvador Perez, the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters, combined for eight RBIs in the win. That’s the most by a Royals 3-4 combination in a game since 2009.
Benintendi has slashed .346/.395/.477 with four home runs, 17 RBIs and 14 runs scored in his last 30 games.
Perez has batted .304 with seven RBIs and two home runs in six games against the Twins this season.
Injuries continue to hit the Twins hard. They come into the series having recently placed catcher Mitch Garver (groin) and infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder (7-day concussion list) on the injured list.
Their star center fielder Byron Buxton remains on the injured list (since May 7) with a hip injury. Refsnyder had been playing center field due to injuries to Buxton and backup outfielder Jake Cave. The Twins called up Gilberto Celestino, the No. 8 prospect in their farm system according to MLBPipeline.com, from Triple-A.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 9:25 AM.
