Kansas City @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( May 29, 2024 ) Kansas City 6, Minnesota 1
The Minnesota Twins will go for a series win when they play the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Minnesota has won two of three games against the Royals entering the final matchup of the four-game series. The Twins won 6-5 on Monday and 4-2 on Tuesday before falling short 6-1 on Wednesday night.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he wanted to see more timely hitting in the loss.
"We had some opportunities with some guys on base," Baldelli said after Wednesday's loss. "We've got to find a way to bring some of those runs home. We just weren't able to bring them home when they were standing out there.
"Not our best day out there. There are some things we have to execute better. But I think there are some realities where it looks a little bit different and we're right in the game."
Meanwhile, the Royals are looking to string wins together after snapping a three-game skid. Kansas City has enjoyed a great start to the season at 13 games above .500, which has surprised many outside observers but has not surprised the Royals' players.
Nelson Velazquez said he and his teammates had plenty of perseverance. Velazquez clubbed two home runs on Wednesday to help lift the Royals to the win.
"We play the whole nine innings, the 27 outs together," Velazquez said on the Royals' broadcast network after the game. "Never giving up. Supporting each other. I think it's something that's helping us so far.
"We just have to keep playing like that. We have a really good lineup, a really good bullpen. We've got everything we need."
The Royals also have Velazquez finding his power stroke at the plate. Including his two home runs on Wednesday, he has four homers in his past seven games.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said his coaching staff and Velazquez had been working hard behind the scenes to fine-tune his swing.
"They've been working on some of the mechanics, trying to get him back closer to where he was last year, a little more stable on his legs," Quatraro said. "You see better swings, you see better takes. It usually starts with the foundation. If your legs are strong, your base is strong, usually you put better swings on it."
Twins right-hander Chris Paddack (4-2, 4.39 ERA) will take the mound in the series finale. Paddack is coming off back-to-back no-decisions and is seeking his first victory since May 8 against the Seattle Mariners.
In his most recent outing, Paddack allowed two runs on four hits in five innings against the Texas Rangers. He has faced the Royals once in his career, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA.
The Royals scratched scheduled starter Brady Singer due to illness on Thursday morning and recalled left-hander Daniel Lynch IV (0-0, 0.00 ERA) from Triple-A Omaha to take the hill.
Lynch, a first-round draft pick by Kansas City in 2018, has allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings this season. He is 1-3 with a 4.37 ERA in seven career starts against the Twins.
--Field Level Media