Royals visit Minnesota, aim to build on Duffy's strong performance

Kansas City Royals (22-46, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (45-22, first in the AL Central)

Minneapolis; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Brad Keller (3-8, 4.29 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 58 strikeouts) Twins: Kyle Gibson (6-3, 4.14 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 71 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Danny Duffy. Duffy pitched seven innings, surrendering two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts against Detroit.

The Twins are 14-6 against AL Central teams. Minnesota has hit 132 combined home runs this season, most in the American League. Eddie Rosario leads the team with 19 homers.

The Royals are 10-16 in division games. Kansas City hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .307 this season, led by Alex Gordon with a mark of .351. This is the first game between these teams in 2019.

TOP PERFORMERS: Rosario leads the Twins with 19 home runs and is slugging .533. C.J. Cron is 10-for-33 with four doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with 81 hits and is batting .292. Jorge Soler is 10-for-38 with four doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.

LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 6-4, .283 batting average, 5.01 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Royals: 2-8, .231 batting average, 4.71 ERA, outscored by 26 runs

Twins Injuries: Taylor Rogers: day-to-day (back), Adalberto Mejia: 10-day IL (calf).

Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Alex Gordon: day-to-day (back), Hunter Dozier: 10-day IL (chest), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.