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Twins hope to continue power surge at Kansas City

Aug 9, 2007 - 1:26 PM Minnesota (58-55) at Kansas City (49-63) 2:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins had not homered in the month of August until Michael Cuddyer's blast on Wednesday. They will try to keep the power coming when they visit the Kansas City Royals in the rubber game of a three-game series.

The Twins homered twice Wednesday, providing plenty of support for reigning Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, who cruised to his 12th win.

Youngster Matt Garza (1-2, 1.78 ERA) will take the mound for Minnesota on Thursday hoping for some support of his own. The 23-year-old righthander has pitched brilliantly since being recalled from Class AAA Rochester on July 2, but has been victimized by his offense.

In his two losses and two no decisions, the Twins have managed a total of four runs while Garza has been in the game.

The Royals will counter with Kyle Davies (4-8, 6.07), who is finding it a rough transition from the National League to the American League. The 23-year-old righthander came over from the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline in exchange for reliever Octavio Dotel.

In his first AL start, Davies allowed five runs and six hits in just three innings, not factoring in the decision against the Yankees last Saturday. Davies' career ERA of 6.26 is the worst mark of any active starting pitcher who has hurled more than 200 innings.