MLB Standings 2012: Royals 6 Games Back Of A.L. Central

The Kansas City Royals have lost some ground in the A.L. Central standings this past week. The Royals are in the midst of a three-game losing streak after being swept by the Twins. That swept put the Royals six games back of the division leading White Sox.

There are tiers in this divison with the top two spots being tight with the White Sox having a 1.5 game lead over the Indians, and then the next tier is between the Tigers and Royals who are just three games apart. The Twins are in last place and are 8.5 games out of first place.

The Royals next series is a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Royals Vs. Twins Final Score: Kansas City Can't Pull Off Comeback, Lose 10-8

The Kansas City Royals scored three in the ninth but came up just short in a 10-8 loss to the Twins. The loss is the Royals third straight after being swept in Saturday's doubleheader.

Both team's offenses came alive late as they combined to score 16 runs from the sixth inning on. Kansas City took a 5-1 advantage in the sixth inning with the big blow being a two-run double off the bat of Irving Falu. Minnesota answered back with five runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 6-5 lead. The Twins would tack on four more runs in the seventh and eighth and led 10-5 going to the ninth.

The Royals got an RBI single from Brayen Pena in the ninth and a two-run single from Falu to pull to within 10-8 but couldn't get any closer. Falu finished 3 for 5 in the game with four RBIs. Pena also drove in two runs and Eric Hosmer had three hits to raise his average to .233.

Trevor Plouffe homered twice for the Twins while Josh Willingham and Drew Butera also went deep. Willingham and Butera drove in three runs each.

Bruce Chen takes the loss for the Royals allowing six runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Jeff Gray earns the win with a scoreless inning of relief for Minnesota.

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Royals Vs. Twins Game 4 Lineup: Sunday's Series Finale Lineups Announced

Bruce Chen and Francisco Liriano will step onto the mounds for the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins on Sunday as the series comes to a close in Minneapolis as the Royals push for a split with their divisional rivals. Irving Falu will get the start at second, moving Yuniesky Betancourt to third. Mike Moustakas will get a day of rest in Sunday's finale.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams.

Kansas City Royals Starting Lineup

1. Alex Gordon (L) LF
2. Alcides Escobar (R) SS
3. Billy Butler (R) DH
4. Jeff Francoeur (R) RF
5. Yuniesky Betancourt (R) 3B
6. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B
7. Brayan Pena (S) C
8. Jason Bourgeois (R) CF
9. Irving Falu (S) 2B

Minnesota Twins Starting Lineup

1. Denard Span (L) CF
2. Jamey Carroll (R) 2B
3. Joe Mauer (L) DH
4. Josh Willingham (R) LF
5. Justin Morneau (L) 1B
6. Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B
7. Darin Mastroianni (R) RF
8. Drew Butera (R) C
9. Brian Dozier (R) SS

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Royals Vs. Twins Sunday Time, TV, Radio Info And More

The Kansas City Royals will try to escape Minnesota with a split of their four-game series with the Twins after being swept in Saturday's doubleheader. The Royals took Friday's series opener 4-3 but fell 7-2 and 5-1 in Saturday's twin bill.

The Royals will turn to Bruce Chen on Sunday who is 7-6 with a 4.53 ERA on the season. Chen allowed one earned run in seven innings of work last time out in a win over Tampa Bay. Minnesota will counter with lefty Francisco Liriano who has bounced back from a tough start to the season. Liriano has a 2.41 ERA since returning to the Twins' rotation.

Game Date/Time: Sunday, July 1, 1:10 p.m. CT

Location: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota

TV: Fox Sports Kansas City

Radio: KCSP 610

Online Streaming: MLB.tv

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Royals Vs. Twins: Minnesota Takes Second Game Of Double-Header, 5-1

After dropping the first game of their twin bill with the Minnesota Twins by a final score of 7-2, the Kansas City Royals dropped game two as well by a final score of 5-1.

Billy Butler drove in the Royals only one of the day and was the only player with multiple hits in the game with two. Luke Hochevar got the start on the mound and his struggles this season continued.

Hochevar pitched six complete innings and gave up eight hits and five earned runs, bringing his record on the year to 5-8 and raising his ERA to 5.23.

The Royals are now 35-41 on the season and are six games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. They will face the Twins again on Sunday with first pitch coming at 1:10 P.M., CST.

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Royals Vs. Twins Game 3 Lineup: Kansas City Going With Luke Hochevar

The Kansas City Royals will be looking to get back at the Minnesota Twins in their second game of their Saturday double header. The Royals fell 7-2 in the first game and will be bringing out Luke Hochevar in the afternoon game in hopes of getting a win. Hochevar is only 5-7 on the year but he has won his last two starts including a complete game shutout against the Tampa Bay Rays back on June 25.

The Twins are countering with Cole DeVries who is making his first start since June 4 which also happened to be against the Royals.

The only change the Royals are making with their fielding lineup is having Jarrod Dyson catch the second game to give Brayan Pena a rest after he caught the first game on Saturday.

Royals lineup:
1. Alex Gordon LF
2. Yuniesky Betancourt 2B
3. Mike Moustakas 3B
4. Billy Butler DH
5. Jeff Francoeur RF
6. Eric Hosmer 1B
7. Salvador Perez C
8. Jarrod Dyson CF
9. Alcides Escobar SS
Luke Hochevar P

Twins lineup:
1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jamey Carroll SS
3. Joe Mauer C
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Justin Morneau DH
6. Trevor Plouffe 3B
7. Chris Parmelee 1B
8. Darin Mastroianni RF
9. Alexi Casilla 2B
Cole DeVries P

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Royals Vs. Twins Final Score: Kansas City Falls To Minnesota 7-2

The Minnesota Twins took the first game of the double header by defeating the Kansas City Royals 7-2. The Twins had a strong start by Scott Diamond who shut down the Royals for eight innings by allowing only six hits, two runs and struck out four batters for his seventh win of the season.

The Royals starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez was pitching fairly well up until the fifth inning when he gave up four runs after only able to get one out. Sanchez gave up 10 hits and six runs over 4.1 innings of work which was too much for the Royals to overcome, and after five innings they trailed 6-0.

Second baseman Yuniesky Betancourt was the only Royals player who provided any offense as he drove in both runs. The first came in the sixth when he grounded out to third but was able to knock in Jason Bourgeois and the other came in the eighth inning on a RBI single which also scored Bourgeois.

The Royals have another game to prepare for tonight, so they need to forget about this performance and be ready go at 6:10 p.m. CT for a new game.

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Royals Vs. Twins: Saturday's Lineups Announced

Luis Mendoza Stepped Up When Kansas City Royals Needed Him Most

In 167 career innings pitched in the major leagues, Kansas City Royals starter Luis Mendoza has a 6.20 ERA. His record during that time is 9-13. But that didn't stop The Dozer from going out on Friday evening and having his best career outing.

Tossing 115 pitches, which is an all-time at the game's highest level for the 28-year old right-hander, Mendoza went eight innings in which he allowed just one run on five hits. He struck out five, while walking none. Both statistics tied season highs. Mendoza would finish with a game score of 73 which is a career best figure.

Diving more into the numbers, 23 pitches were strikes looking, which tops the previous season high of 15 in a 2-1 Kansas City victory on June 12th at The K against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Now it may have been against a Twins squad that is sitting at the bottom of the American League Central, but it was a road game and with the Royals starting a steak of 11 games in 10 days, it was just the type of effort needed from a Royals pitcher.

Going into Saturday's doubleheader, the Royals have a fresh bullpen after having an off day on Thursday, and only using Jonathan Broxton for one inning of relief on Friday.

Kansas City is allowed to bring up one extra player for Saturday and will add Tommy Hottovy from Omaha to the squad for a day. By comparison, the Twins used five pitchers Friday night.

As manager Ned Yost has commonly said all year, he's taking this process one day at a time, but on Friday evening Luis Mendoza sure helped the Royals bullpen out for the new few days.

Kansas City Royals Vs. Minnesota Twins: Saturday Preview, TV Schedule And More

The Royals are currently riding a four game winning streak, so why not play two games on Saturday? Kansas City takes on the Minnesota Twins again on Saturday in a day/night doubleheader, as the Royals look to stay hot and slowly crawl back into contention in the AL Central.

Jonathan Sanchez will start the first game of the doubleheader for the Royals, which is schedule for 12:10 p.m. CT. Sanchez will look for his second win of the year, as he brings a 1-3 record into the contest, to go along with a 6.21 ERA and 1.81 WHIP. Sanchez was most recently shelled by the St. Louis Cardinals, lasting just five and two thirds innings, giving up six runs on four hits and six walks.

Certainly, the Royals will need better results from Sanchez on Saturday.

KC's bats will face off against Scott Diamond in the first game. Diamond has pitched very well for Minnesota so far in 2012. To date, Diamond is 6-3 with a 2.67 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and has held opponents to a .279 average against.

In the second game, Kansas City will send Luke Hochevar to the mound. Hochevar had his best start of his season on Monday, pitching a complete game shutout against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hochevar will look to continue building on the success of his last two starts, as he has not allowed a run in either of them. To date, Hochevar is 5-7 with a 5.07 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.

During the nightcap, Kansas City's bats will face off against Cole DeVries, who will be making just his fourth start this year -- and his fourth start of his career. DeVries' numbers aren't too spectacular, as he's allowed 11 runs (seven earned) in 15 innings, on 14 hits while issuing six walks and striking out nine.

First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. CT at Target Field. Televised coverage can be found on FOX Sports Kansas City.

First pitch of Game 2 is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT. Televised coverage can be found on FOX, rendering MLB.tv useless.

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Royals Vs. Twins Final Score: Kansas City Holds Of Minnesota To Win 4-3

The Kansas City Royals got a strong start by Luis Mendoza who went a career-high eight innings, allowed only five hits, struck out five and gave up only one run. However, it was closer Jonathan Broxton who nearly blew the game for the Royals by allowing two runs in the bottom of the ninth to the Minnesota Twins. Luckily for the Royals that Broxton was able to finish the inning and give the Royals a 4-3 win, which was their fourth in a row.

The Royals offense was led by catcher Salvador Perez who went 2-for-4 including a solo home run in the second inning which gave them a 2-1 lead. Kansas City put up one run in the fifth when Yuniesky Betancourt had a RBI single and then another in seventh inning on a RBI double by Eric Hosmer to put the Royals up 4-1.

In the bottom of the ninth Broxton allowed two hits and a walk which led to the Twins scoring two runs and making it a 4-3 game, and all were scored before the second out of the inning was recorded. Braxton got his stuff together and caused Justin Morneau to fly out but that advanced Joe Mauer to third base with two outs. The final out was secured when Trevor Plouffe fouled out to third base.

Read more on the Royals at Royals Review. Head over to Twinkie Town for the Twins fans' perspective. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Royals Vs. Twins: Friday Lineups Announced

The lineups for the Royals and Twins series opener on Friday night have been announced. These teams are at the bottom of the AL Central and could use victories against each other to keep from being considered the worst team in the division.

You'll watch the following lineups:

Kansas City Royals

1. Alex Gordon (L) LF
2. Yuniesky Betancourt (R) 2B
3. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B
4. Billy Butler (R) DH
5. Jeff Francoeur (R) RF
6. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B
7. Salvador Perez (R) C
8. Jason Bourgeois (R) CF
9. Alcides Escobar (R) SS

Minnesota Twins

1. Denard Span (L) CF
2. Ben Revere (L) RF
3. Joe Mauer (L) DH
4. Josh Willingham (R) LF
5. Justin Morneau (L) 1B
6. Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B
7. Ryan Doumit (S) C
8. Brian Dozier (R) SS
9. Jamey Carroll (R) 2B

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Royals Vs. Twins: Game 1 Preview, TV Info And More

The Royals start an 11-game road trip at the Twins, trying to keep out of last place in the AL Central.