MINNEAPOLIS -- The Royals announced that right-hander Ian Kennedy has been activated from the disabled list and will start in the club's series finale vs. the Twins on Sunday.
Kennedy has been sidelined for nearly two months with a strained left oblique and hasn't made a Major League start since July 10, when he faced the Twins at Target Field. He has made two rehab starts recently: one at Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 29, and another with Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday.
In his 12th season, Kennedy, 33, is 1-8 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts. His best start of the season came on June 12, when he tossed eight scoreless innings and held the Reds to three hits while striking out five.
Royals manager Ned Yost said on Friday that Kansas City will go with a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future after the club announced on Tuesday that Danny Duffy is out for the season due to a left shoulder impingement.
The first time that sixth slot in the rotation comes around will be Tuesday, but Yost has not officially announced who will start that day. On Friday, he said it will be either Glenn Sparkman or Eric Skoglund.
Jakob Junis will start on Monday and Brad Keller will start on Wednesday, each on seven days of rest, but Yost does not plan to shuffle his rotation.
"I'm gonna keep everybody on line," Yost said on Saturday. "That's why we're going to a sixth [starter], just giving everybody a little bit of an extra break. We won't have one for just about the rest of the year. We've got one more off-day. We've gotta run the rest of the month without an off-day, really."