Final
Royals-Twins Preview
Jun 9, 2010 - 5:07 AMVideo
Kansas City (24-34) at Minnesota (33-24), 8:10 p.m. EDT
No matter what happens on the road, returning home to Target Field seems to bring out the best in the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins look to extend their season-high home winning streak to six games when they continue their series with the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
Coming off a 3-4 road trip, Minnesota (34-24) opened a nine-game homestand with a 7-3 win over Kansas City on Tuesday as Kevin Slowey threw seven scoreless innings and Jason Kubel had three RBIs.
The AL Central-leading Twins are 19-9 in their new outdoor ballpark, where they've outscored opponents 31-12 during a five-game winning streak. Minnesota is 15-15 on the road.
On the same day Minnesota placed second baseman Orlando Hudson on the disabled list with a sprained wrist, Michael Cuddyer had two hits with an RBI on Tuesday in his first games since a four-game bereavement leave after the death of his father-in-law.
The Twins have won three of four overall despite missing Hudson and shortstop J.J. Hardy, who has not been in the starting lineup since Friday due to inflammation in the bruised left wrist that kept him on the DL most of May. Hardy will be re-evaluated Thursday.
"I need players," manager Ron Gardenhire told the Twins' official website. "I've waited. I've been patient here - too patient."
Cuddyer is 7 for 16 with four RBIs in his last four games, and he's batting .345 with nine RBIs in seven against the Royals this season. The veteran outfielder, however, is 2 for 11 with a homer against scheduled starter Kyle Davies (4-4, 5.49 ERA).
After the Twins tagged reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke for six runs in five innings Tuesday, they'll get their first look at Davies this season. The right-hander is 4-5 with a 4.80 ERA in nine starts against Minnesota.
Davies looks to bounce back after he allowed six runs in four innings of a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last Wednesday.
"I wasn't mixing my pitches as well as I should have," Davies said. "I got away from what's made me successful so far in the year."
The Twins hope Carl Pavano (5-6, 4.11) can rebound in this contest after surrendering four runs in the third inning and lasting seven in a 4-1 defeat at Seattle on Thursday.
"The loss was disappointing," said Pavano, 1-3 with a 5.54 ERA since May 17. "I was kind of fighting myself."
The right-hander is 5-5 with a 6.98 ERA in 10 starts versus the Royals. After he allowed seven runs in 3 1-3 innings of a 10-5 home loss to the Royals on April 18, Pavano gave up two in seven innings of an 8-3 win at Kansas City on April 23.
Jose Guillen is 6 for 15 with a homer against Pavano and had two hits with an RBI on Tuesday for the Royals (24-35), who have lost three straight on the road.
Guillen, who has driven in five runs in his last three games, is 7 for 17 at Target Field.
- Twins 6, Royals 2 - FINAL
KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Podsednik lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .288
J Kendall c 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 .289
D DeJesus dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .306
B Butler 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 .323
J Guillen rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .251
W Bloomquist rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
A Callaspo
Jun 9 10:39 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY MATT TOLBERT SCORED NICK PUNTO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D SPAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 6 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MAUER (.317, 2-FOR-3, BB, RBI)
Royals 2, Twins 6 Bot 8, 0 OutsJun 9 10:27 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JUSTIN MORNEAU SCORED MATT TOLBERT
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J MORNEAU ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 5 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: M CUDDYER (.284, 1-FOR-3)
Royals 2, Twins 5 Bot 7, 0 OutsJun 9 10:03 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
FORCE OUT BY NICK PUNTO SCORED JASON KUBEL
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, N PUNTO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 4 BOTTOM,6TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D SPAN (.264, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Royals 2, Twins 4 Bot 6, 0 OutsJun 9 9:49 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND DP BY DANNY VALENCIA SCORED MICHAEL CUDDYER
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J KUBEL ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 3 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: N PUNTO (.217, 0-FOR-1)
Royals 2, Twins 3 Bot 4, 0 OutsJun 9 9:17 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JOE MAUER SCORED DENARD SPAN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J MAUER ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 2 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MORNEAU (.360, 0-FOR-1)
Royals 2, Twins 2 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 9 9:01 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY BILLY BUTLER SCORED SCOTT PODSEDNIK
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B BUTLER ON FIRST, D DEJESUS ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
MINNESOTA 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: J GUILLEN (.250, 0-FOR-1)
Royals 2, Twins 1 Top 3, 0 OutsJun 9 8:48 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JASON KENDALL SCORED YUNIESKY BETANCOURT
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S PODSEDNIK ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
MINNESOTA 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: D DEJESUS (.305, 0-FOR-1)
Royals 1, Twins 1 Top 3, 0 OutsJun 9 8:43 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY DELMON YOUNG (7) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN THE
2ND OFF KYLE DAVIES.
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 0, MINNESOTA 1
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D VALENCIA (.333, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Royals 0, Twins 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 9 8:34 PM
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