David Lough Earns More Playing Time For Royals

David Lough hasn't taken much time to impress after his first call-up to the major leagues. In the second game of a Saturday double header, the Kansas City Royals right fielder hit a single on his first at-bat during a loss to the Minnesota Twins.

He added another single to earn himself a start on Sunday when Lough again shined at the plate with a 2-for-5 day that included his first major league double.

Per the Royals' website:

"I just try to go out and get hits and help the team win," Lough said. "And being the leadoff guy, you want to get on base as much as you possibly can, so that's what I've been trying to do."

The rise of Lough, a 26-year-old from Akron, Ohio, has been relatively fast after a long push to move his way up the minor league ranks. Lough was taken in the 11th round of the 2007 draft, but it took three seasons with Triple A Omaha before he got his shot in MLB.

He again appeared in the lineup Monday against the Texas Rangers.

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Royals Vs. Twins Game Recap: Kansas City Avoids Sweep Behind Abreu's Big Day

The Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium to avoid a three-game sweep.

Tony Abreu was the star of the game for the Royals, as he drove in three clutch runs and had three hits, which raised his batting average to .344 on the season. The first two runs batted in for Abreu came on a second-inning single which put the Royals ahead, 3-2, and the third RBI gave the Royals a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning.

Royals starter Luis Mendoza was serviceable in five innings, as he allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out three, and did not walk a batter. Tim Collins vultured the win after allowing the Twins to regain the lead on his watch, as he allowed two runs on three hits in the sixth inning. The bullpen was solid after that, though, and Greg Holland capped off the effort by striking out the side in the ninth, earning his 10th save in the process.

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Royals Vs. Twins: Kansas City Looks to Avoid Sweep Behind Luis Mendoza

The Kansas City Royals will attempt to avoid a weekend sweep when they face the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in the final game of a three-game series. The Royals dropped a day-night doubleheader Saturday, after Friday's game was cancelled for rain.

The Royals will hand the ball to righty Luis Mendoza, who enters the game with a 7-9 record and 4.51 ERA. In his last start against Minnesota on July 21, Mendoza went 6.1 innings and gave up just three earned runs on seven hits. Minnesota counters with Esmerling Vasquez, who is making his Minnesota debut and first major league start. Vasquez spent 2011 in the bullpen of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and was claimed off waivers by the Twins in November. He was called up last week from AAA Rochester.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT, with television coverage on Fox Sports Kansas City.

For more in-depth coverage of this series, check out Royals blog Royals Review and Twins blog Twinkie Town. For more news, notes and analysis from around baseball, visit Baseball Nation.

Royals Vs. Twins: Kansas City Drops Doubleheader To Minnesota

The Kansas City Royals lost the second game of Saturday's doubleheader with Minnesota 8-7. Royals starter Luke Hochevar took the loss after going just 1 2/3 innings and giving up eight earned runs on just six hits. Twins reliever Anthony Swarzak got the win.

The Twins scored all of their eight runs in the first two innings, with a first-inning three-run home run by Chris Parmalee and second-inning grand slam by Joe Mauer to highlight the outburst. The Royals staged a comeback, getting two in the first inning on RBI singles by Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas. In the third, Moustakas drove in another run on a double. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler got RBI singles in the fourth to make the score 8-5, and an Eric Hosmer seventh-inning single drove in two.

The Royals were unable to find an eighth run, though, as the Twins' bullpen shut Kansas City down in the eighth and ninth.

The teams return to action Sunday afternoon.

Royals Vs. Twins Final Score: Minnesota Takes First Game Of Doubleheader, 3-1

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader between the two teams at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday.

Royals starter Will Smith went six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits in the loss. He received little run support as Kansas City scattered seven hits and pushed just one run across the plate.

Cole De Vries earned his fourth win for Minnesota, going 6.2 innings and allowing just one run while striking out three. He kept the ball down for the most part, inducing eight groundball outs to six flyouts. Glen Perkins came on to pitch the final inning for his ninth save.

Justin Morneau provided the first offense of the game with an RBI double in the first inning. He would later get a second RBI on a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0. The lead was extended to 3-0 when Ryan Doumit drove home Darin Mastroianni with a single in the fifth.

Kansas City's lone run came in the seventh, when Johnny Giavotella plated Mike Moustakas with a two-out single.

The teams will play again at about 6:30 p.m. CT. Luke Hochevar will take the mound for the Royals against Minnesota's Liam Hendriks.

For more in-depth coverage of this series, check out Royals blog Royals Review and Twins blog Twinkie Town. For more news, notes and analysis from around baseball, visit Baseball Nation.

Royals Vs. Twins: Kansas City, Minnesota To Play Double-Header On Saturday

After rain washed out play in Kansas City on Friday night, the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins will begin their three-game weekend series with a double-header on Saturday evening at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals didn't need the unscheduled day off in the midst of a three-game winning streak which they will try to extend in the first game with Will Smith (4-6, 5.55 ERA) slated to start on the mound. The left hander will try to snap personal two-game losing streak when he faces the Twins.

Minnesota will start game one with right-hander Cole De Vries (3-5, 4.68 ERA) who is coming off of a strong start when he gave up three hits and two runs to the Texas Rangers in his last outing.

In the nightcap, right-hander Luke Hochevar (7-12, 4.93 ERA) will start for Kansas City against Minnesota's Liam Hendriks (0-7, 6.02 ERA). The 23-year-old Hendriks has yet to win a game for the Twins in his ten starts this season.

Game one is scheduled to start at 3:05 p.m. CT with the second game starting about thirty minutes after game one.

For more in-depth coverage of this series, check out Royals blog Royals Review and Twins blog Twinkie Town. For more news, notes and analysis from around baseball, visit Baseball Nation.

Royals Vs. Twins: Kansas City Hosts Minnesota In Weekend Series

The Kansas City Royals will host the Minnesota Twins for three games over the weekend at Kauffman Stadium.