Kansas City @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 16, 2011 ) Kansas City 3, Minnesota 4

THE STORY: Somehow, the Minnesota Twins have risen up enough that they can legitimately see themselves contending in what is now a wide-open race in the American League Central. With Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer beginning to heat up, and Jason Kubel and Denard Span getting closer to coming back, it is starting to look like the Twins have a shot. The Kansas City Royals will have the opportunity to affect plenty of races the rest of the way, but they probably won’t be around at the end. The Twins will look to take advantage of the lowly Royals again when the teams wrap up a four-game series in Minnesota on Sunday.

TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS North (Minnesota)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins LH Brian Duensing (6-7, 4.13 ERA) vs. Royals RH Felipe Paulino (1-6, 4.13).

Duensing has picked it up right along with his team recently, posting a 3-1 record with a 2.41 ERA over his last five turns. The 28-year old lefthander went seven innings at the Chicago White Sox before the break but did not factor in the decision, surrendering two runs and five hits. Duensing pitched eight scoreless innings to earn a win at Kansas City on June 5 and owns a 5-1 mark with a 2.63 ERA in 13 career games - six starts - against the the Royals. Paulino earned his first win of the season July 5, striking out nine while allowing three runs in six innings at Chicago. The Dominican righthander has been a rotation fixture for Kansas City since being acquired from the Colorado Rockies in May and owns a 3.71 ERA as a starter. Paulino has never faced Minnesota.

ABOUT THE TWINS (43-49): No one seems to want to run away with the AL Central, which gives Minnesota more time to get over its early season woes and jump back into the race. Saturday’s 4-3 win over Kansas City moved the Twins to within six games of first-place Cleveland. Detroit (one game behind) and Chicago (four games) are also in the mix and believe they can win the division. Mauer drove in a run Saturday and has three RBIs in the series, and lifted his batting average to .250. That might not seem like a lot for the former MVP, but he was as low as .223 only 10 days ago. Kubel and Span are both beginning rehab assignments at Triple A Rochester, and are expected to return in a week or so.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (38-56): Kansas City is in last place in the AL Central and owns the most losses in the American League. But with Chicago, Tampa Bay, Boston and Cleveland on the schedule through the end of July, and all those teams plus New York and Detroit set up for August, the Royals will play a large role in determining which four teams get to go to the playoffs in the AL. Kansas City also plans to influence the races at the trade deadline by opening up more spots for the slew of talented prospects that are ready to be promoted.

FINAL PITCH: One area of concern for the Twins is at the back of the bullpen, where Matt Capps was relieved of his closing duties after suffering his seventh blown save Friday. Veteran Joe Nathan, who began the season as the closer, was back in the role Saturday and worked a scoreless ninth for the save.