Twins play the Royals after Berrios' solid performance

Posted June 23, 2019 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

Minnesota Twins (50-26, first in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (26-51, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Kansas; Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Michael Pineda (4-3, 4.76 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 62 strikeouts) Royals: Homer Bailey (6-6, 4.82 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 67 strikeouts)

LINE: Royals favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 10 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Jose Berrios. Berrios went seven innings, surrendering two runs on five hits with three strikeouts against Kansas City.

The Royals are 12-20 against the rest of their division. Kansas City has hit 77 home runs as a team this season. Jorge Soler leads the team with 21, averaging one every 13.6 at-bats.

The Twins are 26-13 on the road. Minnesota has slugged .503, the best mark in the American League. Max Kepler leads the club with a .550 slugging percentage, including 37 extra-base hits and 19 home runs. The Twins won the last meeting 5-3. Trevor May earned his second victory and C.J. Cron went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs for Minnesota. Wily Peralta registered his third loss for Kansas City.

TOP PERFORMERS: Soler leads the Royals with 53 RBIs and is batting .245. Whit Merrifield is 15-for-44 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.

Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 96 hits and has 38 RBIs. Cron has 13 hits and is batting .333 over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .242 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Twins: 6-4, .255 batting average, 3.58 ERA

Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Adalberto Mondesi: 10-day IL (groin), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).

Twins Injuries: Adalberto Mejia: 60-day IL (calf), Jose Berrios: day-to-day (blister), Byron Buxton: 10-day IL (wrist), Jonathan Schoop: day-to-day (ankle), Marwin Gonzalez: 10-day IL (hamstring), Ehire Adrianza: 10-day IL (abdominal).

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

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