The Twins and Royals have seen a lot of each other recently, with some wild results.
In last week’s series between the two American League Central rivals at Target Field, Minnesota earned a pair of walk-off victories with ninth-inning comebacks, including Kody Clemens’ ultimate grand slam in the series finale. Thursday’s 7:40 p.m. contest on ESPN will be the last Twins-Royals clash of the season -- a big game for a Minnesota team in the crowded mix for an AL postseason berth.
After Wednesday’s 2-1 Royals win, the Twins are four games out of first place in the AL Central and one game out of an AL Wild Card spot. General manager Jeremy Zoll announced before Monday’s Trade Deadline that the Twins would be buyers, and they backed that up by acquiring starter Dean Kremer and relievers Jeff Hoffman and A.J. Minter.
All three appeared in Wednesday’s game: Kremer allowed just one run in five innings, and Hoffman pitched a scoreless frame of relief, but Minter allowed the go-ahead home run to K.C.’s Michael Massey in the seventh inning.
The Twins have struggled this year against the last-place Royals, entering Thursday’s game with a 4-8 record against Kansas City, including a 1-4 mark at Kauffman Stadium. Minnesota lost two of three at the K from March 30-April 2 and dropped three of four at Target Field from June 4-7 before Clemens’ grand slam on July 30 gave them a big series win.
On Thursday night, the Royals will start right-hander Michael Wacha (3.51 ERA), who has a 6-2 record in 11 career starts against the Twins. Minnesota’s Josh Bell has faced Wacha 32 times in his career and is 7-for-29 with two home runs against him, while Clemens is 3-for-7 with a double, a homer, and two walks.
Minnesota will start righty Bailey Ober (4.45 ERA), against whom Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has great career numbers: 12-for-28 with two doubles, two triples and a homer. Salvador Perez is 8-for-33 in his career against Ober with a pair of dingers and 11 strikeouts.