Kansas City @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 17, 2010 ) Kansas City 5, Minnesota 6
The Kansas City Royals have not found life in the newly opened Target Field enjoyable to this point.
The Royals dropped the second of the three-game series on Saturday, suffering a 6-5 setback to the Minnesota Twins on Orlando Hudson’s home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The loss was charged to reliever John Parrish, the fifth time in seven defeats that the bullpen has been held accountable for the loss.
Starter Gil Meche wasn’t exactly sharp before turning the ball over to the pen, allowing four runs on seven hits over six innings.
Luke Hochevar will get his shot to prevent the sweep in Sunday’s finale.
The Royals right-hander has been good through two starts, going 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA with seven strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings.
Hochevar, a former No. 1 overall draft pick, has failed to live up to expectations in his first two full seasons. He is coming off a campaign in which he went 7-13 with a 6.55 ERA.
The 26-year-old hasn’t been great in four career games against the Twins, compiling a record of 1-2 with a 6.04 ERA.
Carl Pavano is set to take the ball for the Twins and will try to build upon his steady performance in the early going.
Pavano has been the team’s best pitcher to this point, going 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA. He has allowed only two runs on 10 hits with 10 strikeouts in 13 innings of work.
The 34-year-old was an afterthought in the offseason, resorting to signing a one-year, $7 million deal to stay with the Twins.
Pavano has struggled against Kansas City, posting a record of 4-4 with a 7.08 ERA in eight career starts.
Sunday could mark the return to the starting lineup of Royals third baseman Alex Gordon, who has been sidelined with a broken right thumb.
Gordon, who was limited to 49 games after undergoing season-ending hip surgery last year, batted .232 with six homers and 22 RBIs.
He pinch-hit on Saturday and was issued a walk in his lone plate appearance.
Catcher Jason Kendall is working on an 11-game hitting streak after singling in the seventh inning on Saturday. The veteran, who is in his first season with the club, is batting .366 with a pair of runs scored.
The Twins have already assured themselves a series win in all four they’ve played on the season.