Twins and Sano hope to extend their hot start against Royals

The Twins are 5-0 against the Royals this season, and Miguel Sano is 9-for-18 with three homers against Kansas City. So yeah, the Twins would like to stay the course in this weekend's three games.

Paul Molitor knows it's not that easy.

"We've still got 14 [against the Royals] to go," the Twins' mananger said. "I never try to get too carried away with that. Obviously our guys probably feel pretty good matching up with them."

Nobody more than Sano, who has had three straight multi-hit games against Kansas City. Molitor figures it's a topic that's been extensively discussed in the visitors' clubhouse.

"We'll see what they have for him," Molitor said of potential adjustments. "He's one of those rare players — he's striking out at a very high rate but his production is at the high end of the game. Even with the strikeouts, most of the time he's taking good at-bats."

The Twins would particularly like to win tonight, just because the rest of the weekend is so uncertain. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday afternoon, so it's possible that the homestand could end with yet another doubleheader on Sunday. The Twins have already been rained out four times this year.

Here are the lineups for tonight's opener:

ROYALS

Escobar SS

Cain CF

Hosmer 1B

Perez C

Bonifacio RF

Soler DH

Merrifield 2B

Gordon LF

Cuthbert 3B

Karns RHP

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Grossman DH

Mauer 1B

Sano 3B

Kepler RF

Polanco SS

Castro C

Buxton CF

Rosario LF

Santiago LHP