This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The Minnesota Twins will try to bounce back from consecutive losses when they welcome the Kansas City Royals on Monday evening to start a three-game series in Minneapolis.
The Twins hold a half-game lead over the Royals for second place in the American League Central entering the series. Both teams sit several games back of the Cleveland Guardians, who escaped with a 5-3 win over Minnesota on Sunday.
Twins outfielder Byron Buxton said he and his teammates remained confident as they turned their attention to another meaningful series.
“Things didn’t go our way (against the Guardians, but) it’s one series,” Buxton said. “Still have seven weeks of baseball left. This series doesn’t make the rest of our season.”
Kansas City is aiming for back-to-back wins as it begins a six-game road trip that will include three games against the Twins and three games against the Cincinnati Reds. The Royals are coming off an 8-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
Royals right-hander Brady Singer (8-7, 3.03 ERA) is scheduled to make his 24th start of the season. The 28-year-old has 121 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings.
Singer hopes to recover from a bumpy performance in his last start. He gave up four runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox last Monday and took the loss.
This will be Singer’s 13th career start against Minnesota. He is 3-6 with a 5.18 ERA against the Twins, walking 25 and striking out 64 in 57 1/3 innings.
The Twins will counter with right-hander Pablo Lopez (10-8, 4.74), who also is set to make his 24th start. He has fanned 144 batters in 129 innings.
Like Singer, Lopez also is coming off a loss in his most recent outing. He allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings against the Chicago Cubs, taking the loss in a 7-3 defeat on Tuesday.
In five career starts against the Royals, Lopez is 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA. He has faced Kansas City once already this season, allowing one run on four hits in seven innings and notching the win on Opening Day.
Kansas City hopes to welcome back second baseman Michael Massey, who was scratched from Saturday’s lineup because of low-back tightness. Massey has dealt with back pain during much of the season and has visited the injured list twice.
“It’s just a matter of how it feels for him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It could resolve in the next 10 minutes. That’s how hit and miss it is with him. So, we just don’t know.”
The Royals know they will be without reliever Hunter Harvey, who was placed on the 15-day IL over the weekend because of mid-back tightness. Kansas City promoted reliever Carlos Hernandez from Triple-A Omaha to replace Harvey.
“It’s something he has been dealing with now for four or five days,” Quatraro said of Harvey’s back pain.
One player feeling healthy these days is Buxton, who slugged a pair of home runs for the Twins in Sunday’s game. He has 16 homers and 49 RBIs on the season.
“He’s been swinging the bat great,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think he feels pretty good about where he’s at right now physically.”
–Field Level Media
