Kansas City Royals Continue Divisional Slate Against Minnesota Twins

The Kansas City Royals got into a rhythm during the latter half of their four-game series against the Detroit Tigers, taking Saturday's matchup 3-2 and winning again 5-4 on Sunday.

Entering today's opener against the Minnesota Twins, the Royals have gone 45-62 overall while ranking fifth in the AL Central and falling 11 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox.

However, Kansas City has had the upper hand over the Twins in the season series with a 5-2 lead thus far.

On April 1, Kansas City defeated the Twins 13-9 as left-hander Noah Cameron struck out five batters and gave up a single earned run in five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Minnesota right-hander Joe Ryan took the loss after surrendering nine hits and five earned runs in four innings of action.

The Royals saw similar success the last time both teams faced off on June 7, taking a 6-5 victory. Cameron was the star of the show once again, allowing just three hits through six innings.

For the Twins, Connor Prielipp came out on the short end of the stick. Despite matching Cameron's seven strikeouts, he would give up four hits and two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched. Most notably, he surrendered a three-run homer in the fifth to Starling Marte who put Kansas City ahead 5-1.

Carter Jensen sealed the Twins' fate in the eighth, hitting a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Vinnie Pasquantino to reach home safely. Even then, the Twins did not go out quietly as Josh Bell launched a three-run blast in the ninth while an RBI single by Victor Caratini brought the game within one.

Going into tonight, Salvador Perez will have his sights set on sustained dominance at the plate after passing George Brett's franchise home run record on Saturday. Perez has been batting .208 while recording 80 hits and 15 home runs plus 44 RBI on the season. 

Carter Jensen will look to break out as well following his first career walk-off hit on July 17 against the San Diego Padres.

Defensively, right-hander Seth Lugo will take the mound against Minnesota's Taj Bradley. Lugo has compiled a 4.36 ERA while notching 94 strikeouts and going 4-6 this season.

"He's got good stuff, we've seen him at his best with us and he's a competitor," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Lugo, according to MLB.com. "When you give him the ball, you like your chances."