
Nelson Velázquez homered twice, Salvador Perez hit his team-leading 10th homer of the season and the Kansas City Royals took game three of the four-game series with the Twins 6-1 on Wednesday night.
The Twins have a chance to win another series with a Thursday afternoon game before hitting the road for a long trip to Houston, New York (Yankees) and Pittsburgh.
GAME FOUR PREVIEW
Kansas City Royals (35-22, second in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (30-25, third in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 12:10 p.m. Pregame 11:30 a.m. on WCCO Radio and the Audacy App (in-market restrictions apply).
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Brady Singer (4-2, 2.63 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 64 strikeouts); Twins: Chris Paddack (4-2, 4.39 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Twins -128, Royals +108; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins lead 2-1 in a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals.
Minnesota has a 30-25 record overall and a 15-13 record at home. The Twins have a 19-2 record in games when they scored at least five runs.
Kansas City is 35-22 overall and 14-14 on the road. Royals hitters have a collective .409 slugging percentage to rank eighth in MLB.
The matchup Thursday is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The Twins have a 4-2 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ryan Jeffers has 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBI for the Twins. Jose Miranda is 10-for-34 with a double, three home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.
Salvador Perez has 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 41 RBI while hitting .325 for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 16-for-42 with three doubles, a triple and four home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 6-4, .230 batting average, 4.08 ERA, outscored by four runs
Royals: 7-3, .291 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored opponents by 30 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Justin Topa: 60-Day IL (knee), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daniel Duarte: 60-Day IL (tricep), Zack Weiss: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Anthony DeSclafani: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino: day-to-day (leg), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)