twins vs. kansas city

series preview

THREE-GAME SERIES AT TARGET FIELD

Friday, 7:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

LHP Bruce Chen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (1-0, 1.80)

Saturday, 1:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

RHP James Shields (0-1, 2.70) vs. RHP Ricky Nolasco (0-1, 9.00)

Sunday, 1:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 1.20) vs. RHP Kevin Correia (0-1, 6.17)

ROYALS UPDATE

This is the first game of a six-game road trip that will take the Royals to Houston as well. They will play the Twins six times over the next 10 days. … They are 0-2 on the road so far, having been swept in Detroit. … They are 1-3 in one-run games. … Alex Gordon homered on Wednesday, the first by any Royals player this season. No other major league team has fewer than four homers. … They are 14th in the AL in scoring, ahead of only Houston, have only 14 extra-base hits, fewest in the AL, and have been caught stealing five times, most in the AL. Their pitching has been very good, though they strike out few hitters; their 3.00 ERA is fourth-best. … C Salvador Perez is second in the AL with a .458 batting average. … James Shields went 3-1 with a 4.56 ERA against the Twins in 2013.

TWINS UPDATE

The Twins went 2-8 against the Royals at Target Field last season, the first time since 1999 they had a losing home record against Kansas City. … They went 4-15 overall against the Royals last season, and have lost four in a row and nine of the past 10. They have lost seven consecutive to Kansas City at home. … OF Jason Kubel entered Thursday's game as the AL batting leader with a .462 average, but it fell to .448 after he went 1-for-3. He was 6-for-12 in the three-game series vs. the Athletics. … The Twins entered Thursday as one of four AL teams to have scored at least 40 runs this year, with 45. But their 53 runs allowed are the most in the league. … Joe Mauer is 4-for-6 against Royals closer Greg Holland.

PHIL MILLER