Minnesota @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 26, 2010 ) Minnesota 19, Kansas City 1
There are no sure things in baseball, but the Kansas City Royals can go into Tuesday's game with some degree of confidence.
It's highly unlikely they will lose to the Minnesota Twins by 18 runs again.
That's not much to brag about, but at least it's a start.
The Royals had a night to forget on Monday after they endured an embarrassing 19-1 loss.
Zack Greinke, last season's American League Cy Young Award winner, allowed six runs in the first inning and the results only got worse from there. Greinke permitted eight runs in four innings and the Royals' bullpen was hammered for 11 more runs in the last five frames.
Joe Mauer, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player, was 5-for-5 with a career-high seven RBIs and rookie Danny Valencia belted a grand slam for his first major league home run.
The Royals, who have lost 11 of 14, also made history. The defeat matched the largest losing margin in team history, tying a 21-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics in 2000.
Bruce Chen will have a chance to stop the offense that produced a season-high 20 hits on Monday.
The left-hander holds a win over the Twins on June 10, even though he didn't pitch particularly well. He allowed five runs and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Chen struck out seven and gave up a home run to Jason Kubel.
Chen was moved into the rotation last month when Gil Meche went on the disabled list. He's 4-4 with a 4.64 ERA in 10 starts. Chen is 0-2 in his last three starts and has allowed 12 earned runs and 24 hits in 15 innings.
Carl Pavano has been Minnesota's best starting pitcher, and he'll get the ball on Tuesday. The veteran hasn't lost since June 9 - a span of nine starts in which he's 7-0 - and has thrown complete games in his last two starts.
Pavano threw a five-hit shutout at the Baltimore Orioles in his last start on Thursday.
The right-hander is 2-1 against Kansas City this season, but he did have one of his worst starts against the Royals on April 18. He lasted 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on 11 hits, including a three-run homer to Alberto Callaspo.
Pavano was much more effective in his other two starts. He held the Royals to four earned runs and 10 hits in 15 innings.
The Twins remain one game behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.