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Veteran hurlers square off in Kansas City

Apr 19, 2014 - 1:26 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Veteran lefty Bruce Chen again faces one of the few teams for which he hasn't pitched, when the Kansas City Royals host the Minnesota Twins in the middle game of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Now 36 years old, Chen reached the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 1998 and subsequently toiled for Philadelphia, the New York Mets, Cincinnati, Washington, Boston, Houston, Baltimore and Texas before arriving in Kansas City in 2009 and putting together the best seasons of his career.

He was scheduled to pitch Thursday, but was pushed back due to back stiffness.

Chen was solid while allowing a single run in 6 1/3 innings of Kansas City's 4-3 defeat of the Chicago White Sox on April 5, but he was dinged for six runs and seven hits while retiring just 11 batters in a 10-1 loss at Minnesota six days later.

In his last five starts against Minnesota, he's 2-3 with a 6.93 earned run average. In his career against them, he's 4-7 with a 5.00 ERA.

He's faced by fellow veteran Kevin Correia, who allowed three runs in the Twins' 4-3 defeat of the Royals on Sunday.

Still, he's never won at Kauffman Stadium in three tries and has pitched to an unsightly 7.53 ERA in the park.

In seven career meetings with the Royals, he's never earned a decision and has a 5.03 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.

On Friday, Mike Moustakas stroked a two-run homer in the sixth inning as Kansas City the Royals shut out the Twins, 5-0, in the series opener. Omar Infante supplied two hits and two RBI as the Royals won their fourth straight.

Jason Vargas (2-0) spun seven scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and one walk to go with four strikeouts.

Josmil Pinto had two hits for the Twins, who entered the game as winners in five of their last six. Starter Ricky Nolasco (1-2) was tagged for all five runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings.

is 2-3 with a 4.92 ERA in 10 career games versus Minnesota.