Kansas City Royals (6-19, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (14-11, first in the AL Central)

Minneapolis; Thursday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Zack Greinke (0-3, 4.61 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 19 strikeouts); Twins: Tyler Mahle (1-2, 3.32 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 22 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Twins -197, Royals +166; over/under is 8 runs

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

Minnesota is 7-5 in home games and 14-11 overall. The Twins are 7-1 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Kansas City is 6-19 overall and 5-7 on the road. The Royals have a 5-1 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

The matchup Thursday is the fourth time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Joey Gallo has two doubles and seven home runs for the Twins. Jorge Polanco is 9-for-22 with four doubles and a home run over the last 10 games.

Vinnie Pasquantino leads the Royals with a .284 batting average, and has seven doubles, four home runs, 13 walks and seven RBI. Salvador Perez is 11-for-39 with three RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 4-6, .220 batting average, 4.90 ERA, outscored by five runs

Royals: 2-8, .231 batting average, 5.65 ERA, outscored by 26 runs

INJURIES: Twins: Kenta Maeda: day-to-day (undisclosed), Kyle Farmer: 10-Day IL (face), Gilberto Celestino: 60-Day IL (thumb), Josh Winder: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ronny Henriquez: 15-Day IL (elbow), Royce Lewis: 60-Day IL (knee), Alex Kirilloff: 10-Day IL (wrist), Chris Paddack: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Kris Bubic: 15-Day IL (flexor), Diego Hernandez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Waters: 10-Day IL (oblique), Daniel Lynch: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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

The Associated Press