Minnesota @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 23, 2010 ) Minnesota 8, Kansas City 3
Danny Valencia has been considered the Minnesota Twins' third baseman of the future. That future could have started this weekend, but Valencia is off to a rough start at Triple-A.
In addition, the Twins placed Nick Punto on the disabled list with a sore right groin that has been slow to come around. The move is retroactive to April 16, so Punto is eligible to return May 1. No one is sure he’ll make it back that quickly, though. An MRI has been scheduled to rule out more serious concerns.
Brendan Harris will continue to start at third for the Twins, who continue their series in Kansas City on Saturday night. Harris and Punto, however, are stopgaps until Valencia is ready. When the Twins optioned him to Triple-A during spring training, manager Ron Gardenhire hinted he could return soon.
Valencia entered Friday batting just .163 (7 for 43) to start the year, so Minnesota turned its attention to Luke Hughes. He will join the team in Kansas City on Saturday.
Punto isn’t Minnesota’s only injury concern. The Twins will hold their breath when Nick Blackburn takes the mound Saturday night. Blackburn has been hit hard in consecutive starts and left last Saturday’s win over the Royals with soreness in his elbow. He took the entire week off and will drag his 6.05 ERA out to the mound again against Kansas City.
The Twins were hoping for a breakthrough this season from the 28-year-old Blackburn, who has posted consecutive 11-11 marks in each of the last two seasons. He posted nearly identical numbers the first two years in innings, ERA, walks and strikeouts, but Minnesota was hoping this would be the year he made the big leap. He’s off to a slow start, but has a 2.95 career ERA in three starts against the Royals.
Kansas City hasn’t won a series yet at home and will have to win both weekend games to avoid losing its third straight series at Kaufmann Stadium. If the Royals are to break through Saturday against Blackburn, outfielders Rick Ankiel and David DeJesus will probably be in the middle of it.
DeJesus raced around the bases Friday for an inside-the-park homer that left the Twins confused, since the ball seemed to glance off a fan’s hands for what should’ve been a traditional homer. Either way, it was DeJesus’ second of the season. More importantly, he has now hit safely in 17 straight games against Minnesota, batting .389 during that stretch. He has already homered off Blackburn in his career.
Ankiel hasn’t gotten a hit since facing Blackburn last weekend, when he homered twice. The 0-for-19 skid has dropped more than 100 points off his batting average.