Royals visit the Twins to begin 3-game series

Kansas City Royals (28-23, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (27-22, third in the AL Central)

Minneapolis; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Noah Cameron (1-1, 0.71 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, six strikeouts); Twins: Pablo Lopez (4-2, 2.40 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)

Twins -164, Royals +139; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins host the Kansas City Royals to start a three-game series.

Minnesota is 27-22 overall and 16-7 in home games. The Twins have a 12-5 record in games when they did not give up a home run.

Kansas City has an 11-14 record on the road and a 28-23 record overall. The Royals have a 24-5 record in games when they record at least eight hits.

The teams square off Friday for the fifth time this season. The Royals are up 3-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Trevor Larnach has six doubles, a triple and seven home runs while hitting .254 for the Twins. Byron Buxton is 9 for 35 with a double, a triple and four home runs over the past 10 games.

Vinnie Pasquantino is fourth on the Royals with 14 extra base hits (five doubles, a triple and eight home runs). Maikel Garcia is 12 for 38 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 8-2, .264 batting average, 3.00 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs

Royals: 4-6, .250 batting average, 3.21 ERA, outscored by four runs

INJURIES: Twins: Luke Keaschall: 60-Day IL (forearm), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (forearm), Byron Buxton: 7-Day IL (head), Michael Tonkin: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Carlos Correa: 7-Day IL (concussion), Matt Wallner: 10-Day IL (hamstring)

Royals: Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (groin), Seth Lugo: 15-Day IL (finger), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Sam Long: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Wright: 15-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.