Royals 3 - 1 Twins
Final
  for this game

Royals, Twins vie for AL Central supremacy

Jun 8, 2015 - 2:36 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - First place in the American League Central will be on the line when the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals kick off a three-game series Monday at Target Field.

The Twins are only a game ahead of the Royals for the division lead and the Detroit Tigers sit four games off the pace.

Minnesota salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers with Sunday's 2-0 win behind Mike Pelfrey's eight shutout innings and seven strikeouts. He allowed eight hits and walked one batter. Glen Perkins relieved Pelfrey in the ninth and posted his MLB-best 21st save.

"It seemed like whenever they hit the ball hard, they hit it at somebody," said Pelfrey. "We turned a double play or made a nice play."

Eddie Rosario had an RBI double in a two-run second inning and came home on Eduardo Escobar's triple for the Twins, who are 20-9 at home.

Phil Hughes draws the start for the Twins Monday and the right-hander is 4-5 with a 4.96 earned run average in 11 starts. Hughes had his unbeaten streak come to an end in Wednesday's 6-3 loss at Boston and allowed five runs and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He was 4-0 in his previous six starts.

Hughes has faced the Royals 13 times (12 starts) in his career and is 7-4 with a 5.06 ERA against them.

The Royals avoided a three-game sweep versus the Texas Rangers with Sunday's 4-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium. Salvador Perez belted the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Greg Holland closed the door on Texas in the ninth for his ninth save.

Alcides Escobar had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI for the Royals, who snapped a three-game slide and won for just the third time in the past 12 contests.

"I think it's going to be a big win for us today," Perez said. "Win, happy flight, and we see tomorrow. We'll go play hard versus Minnesota and try to win. We're going to do everything we can to win the games and win the series."

Jeremy Guthrie started for Kansas City and threw 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball, while Wade Davis picked up the win in relief.

The Royals are opening an eight-game road trip Monday and will send Jason Vargas to the mound against the Twins. Vargas is 4-2 with a 4.79 earned run average in seven starts and improved to 3-1 in his last four decisions. He allowed two runs over six innings in a 4-2 win versus Cleveland last Wednesday and has allowed two runs in each of his last four starts.

Vargas is 0-1 in two starts against the Twins this season and 5-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 15 career meetings (14 starts) with the AL Central foes.

Kansas City and Minnesota have split six meetings this season.






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