Kansas City @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 10, 2025 ) Minnesota 2, Kansas City 3
The Minnesota Twins will try to start another home winning streak when they play the Kansas City Royals on Friday night to open a three-game series in Minneapolis.
The Twins won 10 games in a row at Target Field before losing 5-1 against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night. After a day off Thursday, they will regroup for a weekend matchup against another American League Central rival.
Since April 22, the Twins have won 20 of 27 games. Minnesota, Kansas City and the Cleveland Guardians enter Friday five games back of the first-place Detroit Tigers.
"It's been a blast to be a part of," Twins right-hander Joe Ryan said of the team's month-long hot stretch. "Every day, you get to watch someone shove and it gets you focused on doing your part."
Minnesota will face a challenge against the Royals, who won three out of four games against the visiting Twins in early April. The Royals are coming off a road series win against the San Francisco Giants, which included an 8-4 victory in Wednesday's series finale.
The Royals have struggled to score this season, but several hitters are starting to heat up. That includes veteran catcher Salvador Perez, who belted a two-run home run on Wednesday -- his first in more than a month.
The shot gave Perez 276 career homers, which ranks fifth among catchers in AL history. The only players in front of him are Carlton Fisk (376), Yogi Berra (358), Lance Parrish (289) and Ivan Rodriguez (281). All but Parrish are in the Hall of Fame.
"That's pretty good," Perez said. "A lot of hard work and sacrifice. It's not easy, so to be a part of all the big names on that list is amazing."
Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (4-2, 2.40 ERA) will try to prevent Perez and his teammates from maintaining hot bats on Friday. Lopez has 49 strikeouts in 45 innings in 2025 and allows less than one walk and hit per inning.
In his last outing, Lopez tossed six scoreless innings Sunday in a 7-0 road win against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 29-year-old gave up two hits, walked two and struck out six.
Lopez has faced the Royals seven times in his career. He is 5-1 with a 2.23 ERA and has struck out 51 in 44 1/3 innings.
Kansas City will counter with rookie left-hander Noah Cameron (1-1, 0.71). The 25-year-old was the franchise's seventh-round pick out of Central Arkansas in 2021.
Cameron has posted back-to-back quality starts to begin his big league career. He fired 6 1/3 scoreless innings to win his debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 30 and, after a brief minors stint, he returned to allow one run in 6 1/3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday in a 1-0 loss.
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa was activated on Friday from the seven-day concussion injury list. The three-time All-Star is hitting .236 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 41 games this season.
The Twins created a roster spot for Correa's return on Thursday when they sent infielder Ryan Fitzgerald to Triple-A St. Paul. Fitzgerald went 0-for-3 during his brief time with the Twins, which marked his first stint in the majors.
--Field Level Media