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Twins hand Slowey ball against Royals

Sep 26, 2011 - 3:04 PM (Sports Network) - Right-hander Kevin Slowey gets a final chance at his first win of the season tonight, when the Minnesota Twins play the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game, season-ending series at Target Field.

A 13-game winner in 30 appearances last season, Slowey has struggled throughout 2011 in 13 outings mixed between bullpen and starting assignments.

He began the year in relief and had a 4.91 earned run average through six appearances, but has dropped decisions in all seven subsequent starts, including a 5-4 verdict to Seattle in his last outing on Sept. 21.

His ERA has swelled to 6.54 over the starts, as the Twins have been outscored by a 41-17 margin.

Slowey has pitched six innings or more only three times as a starter and has given up three earned runs or less just twice.

The 27-year-old is 5-1 lifetime against the Royals with a 4.31 ERA in 48 innings over nine appearances.

For Kansas City, right-hander Felipe Paulino makes his 20th start of 2011 as a member of the Royals.

The 27-year-old began the season with the Colorado Rockies and was 0-4 in 18 relief appearances before coming to Kansas City when his contract was purchased by the Royals on May 26.

He's 3-6 in 20 appearances -- 19 starts -- including a 4-2 win at Seattle in which he allowed two hits and two runs on Sept. 10.

Two starts since have resulted in no-decisions.

Paulino lost his lone career meeting with the Twins on July 17, when he allowed four runs on seven hits in seven innings of a 4-3 Minnesota triumph at Target Field.

On Sunday in Chicago, Jarrod Dyson's two-run double was all the offense the Royals needed to take a 2-1 victory over the White Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Luis Mendoza (2-0) pitched 7 2/3 strong innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks as Kansas City won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Greg Holland worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.

In Cleveland, Rene Tosoni's leadoff home run in the 10th inning lifted the Twins to a 6-4 win over the Indians in the finale of a four-game set.

In the 10th, Tosoni led off the frame with his fourth shot of the year off of Tony Sipp (6-3) for a 5-4 lead. Chris Parmelee added an RBI single later in the frame to give Minnesota some breathing room.

Joe Nathan worked the bottom of the 10th for his 14th save of the season.

That made a winner of Kyle Waldrop (1-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the first win of his career. Liam Hendriks started the game and pitched six innings of four-run, seven-hit ball.

Ben Revere drove in two runs while Denard Span had two hits and two runs scored for the Twins, who won for just the fourth time in September.

Minnesota is 8-7 against Kansas City this season.