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Royals gunning for rare win vs. Twins

Apr 11, 2008 - 1:50 PM Minnesota (4-5) at Kansas City (6-3) 8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) - The Kansas City Royals have had no trouble against baseball's highest payrolls this season. The Minnesota Twins, however, have given the Royals fits.

The Royals look to bounce back from a loss with a rare win against the Twins when the two teams open a three-game series on Friday.

Kansas City opened the new campaign with a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were widely considered the favorites in the American League Central Division entering 2008 after acquiring slugger Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria during the offseason.

Despite enduring a 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday, the Royals still managed to claim the series victory by winning the first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, between those two series, Kansas City dropped two of three games to the Twins, falling to 30-48 since 2004 against its Central Division rivals.

Gil Meche (0-1, 6.94 ERA) will take the mound for the Royals on Friday after he was roughed up by the Twins during his last outing on Saturday.

The 29-year-old righthander surrendered six runs on just six hits in 5 2/3 innings en route to a 6-4 loss against Minnesota.

Livan Hernandez (2-0, 3.86 ERA) opposes Meche once again when he toes the rubber for the Twins. The 33-year-old righthander was solid on Saturday, holding the Royals to four runs and seven hits in seven innings, throwing just 74 pitches during his outing.