Kansas City @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2011 ) Kansas City 4, Minnesota 7

THE STORY: The Minnesota Twins can prevent the second 100-loss in franchise history with a home victory over the American League Central rival Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. The 1982 rendition of the Twins went 60-102, and this year's club doesn't want to be linked in with that distinction. Admittedly, it's not the storyline that Ron Gardenhire's club envisioned at the start of the season, but injuries quickly derailed the team's chances. Veteran righthander Carl Pavano will take the mound for Minnesota, while lefthander Bruce Chen will vie for his career-high 13th win of the season for Kansas City.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSKC (Kansas City), FSNO (Minnesota)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Bruce Chen (12-8, 3.98 ERA) vs. Twins RH Carl Pavano (8-13, 4.48 ERA)

Chen was brilliant in his last outing, permitting just one run on two hits in eight innings as the Royals cruised to an 11-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Truth be told, the 34-year-old Panama native actually bettered that effort 10 days prior. Chen again scattered two hits, but also struck out eight over eight scoreless innings against the Twins. The victory was only his second in six career decisions versus Minnesota.

Like the rest of the team, Pavano will be happy to see this season come to an end. The 35-year-old has dropped two in a row and seven of his last nine decisions. During the 13-start stretch, Pavano has permitted at least three runs and nine hits in all but two outings. Pavano has posted an 8-7 career mark versus the Royals, but has won just one of three decisions against them this season. Pavano has the distinction of being the Twins the starter on opening day ... as well as the less-celebrated closing day.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (71-90): Johnny Giavotella collected two doubles and a triple in Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Twins. The rookie has 12 hits in his last seven games to raise his batting average from .219 to .253. Giavotella has two hits in three career at-bats versus Pavano. Fellow first-year player Salvador Perez had his second multi-hit game of the series and seventh in 11 games overall. Prior to Tuesday's game, Kansas City acquired minor league righthander Ethan Hollingsworth from Oakland for first baseman Kila Ka'aihue. Hollingsworth shuffled between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Omaha this season.

ABOUT THE TWINS (62-99): Rookie Rene Tosoni belted his first career grand slam and fellow first-year player Chris Parmelee also went deep on Tuesday. Ben Revere tried to do the same, but his attempt for an inside-the-park homer failed when he was thrown out by Alcides Escobar. Revere had run through third base coach Steve Liddle's stop sign before being tagged out. Denard Span has fared well versus Chen, going 5-for-10 in his career. Minnesota claimed righthander Esmerling Vasquez off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Vasquez posted a 1-1 mark with a 4.15 ERA in 31 relief appearances.

FINAL PITCH: "We want to win (Wednesday) and stay away from that stuff." - Gardenhire, on the possibility of his team suffering the 100th loss of the season.