Royals at Twins
The Minnesota Twins continue to bash their way to victories while staying clear of the rest of the pack in the American League Central. The Twins will try to add a little pitching into the mix and clinch a series win when they host the Kansas City Royals in the second of a three-game series on Saturday.
Minnesota, which sits three games ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, leads the majors with 211 home runs and bashed one among 11 hits on Friday but still had to sweat through an 11-9 victory after watching the staff squander two leads and give up late runs that made things interesting down the stretch. The biggest move the Twins made at the trade deadline on Wednesday was bringing in reliever Sam Dyson from the San Francisco Giants, and he served up three runs without recording an out in his team debut on Thursday before yielding three more runs in two-thirds of an inning in Friday's triumph. The Royals finished with 15 hits on Friday but dropped their fourth straight game and fell for the seventh time in the last eight contests. Kansas City, which began a 10-game road trip on Friday, will try to slow the Minnesota offense with veteran Danny Duffy on Saturday while the Twins send right-hander Kyle Gibson to the mound.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Danny Duffy (5-5, 4.42 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (10-4, 4.10)
Duffy needed a little help from the offense in order to come away with a win on Sunday against Cleveland while allowing five runs - four earned - on seven hits and a pair of walks in six innings. The 30-year-old posted quality starts in each of his previous two turns, including an 11-strikeout gem over six innings at Atlanta on July 23. Duffy worked a season-high eight innings at home against Minnesota on June 22 and surrendered three runs on three solo homers but did not factor in the decision.
Gibson last suffered a loss on June 19 and is coming off a quality start after holding the Chicago White Sox to one run and seven hits in six innings on Sunday. The Missouri product struck out nine in that outing and bounced back after serving up five runs in as many innings to the New York Yankees in his previous turn. Gibson enjoyed his best start of the season at home against Kansas City on June 14, when he scattered two hits over eight scoreless innings and did not walk a batter while striking out six.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins CF Byron Buxton (shoulder) sat out Friday and is day-to-day.
2. Kansas City 3B Hunter Dozier homered twice on Friday.
3. Minnesota OF Max Kepler is 8-for-19 with seven extra-base hits and nine runs scored over his last five games.