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Twins-Royals Preview

Jul 1, 2009 - 6:02 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Minnesota (40-39) at Kansas City (33-43), 2:10 p.m. EDT

On Tuesday night, the Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau closed in on matching the longest home run streak of his career while continuing his hot hitting this season against the Kansas City Royals.

As the teams conclude their three-game series on Wednesday, Morneau will try to tie that streak and also look to help the Twins conclude a successful road trip.

With his third homer in three games, Morneau helped Minnesota rally for a 2-1 victory Tuesday. His solo shot in the fourth inning landed in the fountains in right-center field and tied the score.

The Twins (40-39) added the go-ahead run in the sixth on Michael Cuddyer's sacrifice fly after an error on Morneau's fielder's choice.

"Winning these types of close games is something that will definitely help us out in the long run," Minnesota starting pitcher Scott Baker told his team's official Web site.

Morneau now will try to help the Twins win their third straight series and tie his career-best homer streak, set from May 3-8, 2005. Minnesota, which is 5-3 on its swing, is also looking for its fourth consecutive series victory away from home.

"If we could get on a roll here, that would be good for our baseball team," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, has a team-leading 19 home runs and is second in the league with 64 RBIs. He also will try to add to his success against the Royals, as he's batting .421 (8 for 19) with three homers in five meetings this season.

He's done even better against Kansas City's Gil Meche (4-7, 4.27 ERA) over the past three years, going 9 for 19 (.474) with two home runs.

Meche, however, has won consecutive starts over the Twins, including a 7-5 victory May 3 at the Metrodome, and Kansas City has won consecutive series against Minnesota.

To extend that run, the Royals (33-43) could use a better effort from Meche. After a 16-inning scoreless streak that led to consecutive wins, the right-hander has a 14.04 ERA in two straight defeats and home runs have hurt him in those outings.

He gave up two homers for the second straight start in Friday's 5-3 loss at Pittsburgh after allowing just two in his first 14.

"I didn't feel real smooth out there," Meche said. "Tonight was terrible. I just didn't feel great, didn't have good arm speed, didn't locate. It was pretty much the same story as the last start."

Minnesota's Glen Perkins, meanwhile, will try to build on Friday's performance in St. Louis, where he allowed one run over seven innings in a 3-1 win.

"It was just keeping the ball down and letting it move," the left-hander said. "You get through the game quick and there's not a lot of pitches that you waste."

Perkins (3-4, 4.70) has alternated losses and wins in his last four starts and hasn't recorded consecutive victories since winning four straight from Aug. 11-27.

He hasn't factored in two career starts against the Royals, including Minnesota's 10-7 loss in 11 innings May 2.