Felipe Paulino Injury Update: Groin Injury Sidelines Royals Best Starting Pitcher Indefinitely

In a season where the Kansas City Royals starting pitching has ranged from head-scratching to all-out frustrating, Felipe Paulino has been a ray of light. In fact, he’s been downright brilliant for a long stretch recently that’s included five of seven outings where he’s allowed zero earned runs. But now the Royals might have to make due without him for an indefinite period of time due to a groin injury for their ace.

Paulino came out of the first inning last night against the Minnesota Twins due to a groin injury that the pitcher said he was careful not to aggravate. His reason is that he’s been at this point before with a similar injury.

"I was a rookie and I didn’t care if it was sore," Paulino said. "I was still pushing and I really pulled my groin and it put me out like a month. So now I feel the same deal in that spot, so I’ll try to be little smarter on that point."

The Royals were hoping for another strong outing from Paulino to put away their AL Central rivals and climb even closer to that .500 record. Instead they lost the game to the Twins 4-2 and their pitcher for an undetermined stretch.

"It was just not my day today, unbelievable," Paulino said. "But the good thing right now is it’s no big deal. My groin is just a little bit strained and hopefully tomorrow there will be less inflammation in that spot."

The Royals now head to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a three-game series.

Royals Vs. Twins, Final Score: Kansas City Loses Paulino, Then The Game

Despite scoring two runs in the bottom of the first, Kansas City couldn't hold on to outlast the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night, partially due to the fact that Royals starting pitcher Felipe Paulino went down with a strained groin almost immediately in a 4-2 loss. After being hit above the knee by a line drive from the Twin's Ben Revere to open the game. Three batters later, Paulino would leave with a strained groin, his status in the rotation now in doubt.

Yuniesky Betancourt's two-run homer in the bottom of the first would be all of the offense Kansas City would produce on the night. Reliever Luis Mendoza took over the game, and was effective until the fifth inning, when a Justin Morneau RBI would put Minnesota in the lead.

The Royals finished their homestand 3-3, and failed to take the series from last-place Minnesota.

Read more about the Kansas City Royals at Royals Review and for more on theMinnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. Head over to Baseball Nation for additional news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Kansas City Royals Vs. Minnesota Twins: Wednesday Lineups

The Kansas City Royals try to inch back closer to .500 on Wednesday night, as they take on the Minnesota Twins in the rubber match of a three-game series. After losing the first game of the series 10-7, the Royals responded last night behind Bruce Chen with a 1-0 win.

Both Ron Gardenhire and Ned Yost have announced the starting lineups for Wednesday night's contest, and they are as follows:

Minnesota Twins

CF Ben Revere
3B Jamey Carroll
LF Josh Willingham
DH Justin Morneau
C Ryan Doumit
1B Trevor Plouffe
SS Brian Dozier
2B Alexi Casilla
RF Darin Mastroianni

SP Nick Blackburn

Kansas City Royals

LF Alex Gordon
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
DH Billy Butler
3B Mike Moustakas
RF Jeff Francoeur
1B Eric Hosmer
2B Johnny Giavotella
CF Jarrod Dyson
C Humberto Quintero

SP Felipe Paulino

Notably absent again is Joe Mauer, who is missing his third straight game because of a thumb injury. We'll see if the Royals can take advantage of Mauer's absence on Wednesday night.

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Royals Vs. Twins: Game 3 Preview, TV Info And More

Felipe Paulino will take the hill for a Kansas City Royals team that desperately needs to take a home series against last place Minnesota to create any kind of momentum for their club in the AL Central. Paulino has been lights-out of late, with a 1.70 ERA and four scoreless starts in his last six.

On the offensive side, Eric Hosmer enters Wednesday with an eight-game hitting streak, batting .321, while Billy Butler knocked his 21st multi-hit game of the season in Tuesday's win over the Twins.

Date / Time: Wednesday, June 6, 7:10 p.m. CT

Location: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

TV: Fox Sports KC

Radio: KCSP 610 AM

Probable Starters: Felipe Paulino (3-1) vs. Nick Blackburn (1-4)

Read more about the Kansas City Royals at Royals Review and for more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. Head over to Baseball Nation for additional news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Royals Vs. Twins: Bruce Chen Deals In 1-0 Victory

Royals starter Bruce Chen allowed just four hits over seven scoreless innings as Kansas City earned a narrow 1-0 win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

Chen also struck out five to move to 5-5 on the season.

The lone run was scored in the second inning when Brayan Pena singled to left field to score Eric Hosmer who had reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Pena and Hosmer each went 1-for-3.

After Chen left, Greg Holland struck out the side in the eighth. Closer Jonathan Broxton got into some trouble in the ninth, giving up a double and walk with one out, but he got two flyouts to end the game and pick up his 14th save of the season.

Kansas City is now 2-2 against Minnesota on the season, and the teams will play the rubber match of this series Wednesday night.

Read more about the Kansas City Royals at Royals Review and for more on theMinnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. Head over to Baseball Nation for additional news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Royals Vs. Twins: Game 2 Lineups Announced

If the Kansas City Royals have any hope of pulling to .500 by the end of the month, let alone contending in the AL Central, they'll need to take two of three from basement dwelling Minnesota after losing to the Twins on Monday night.

Royals:

1. Alex Gordon (L) LF

2. Johnny Giavotella (R) 2B

3. Billy Butler (R) DH

4. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B

5. Jeff Francoeur (R) RF

6. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B

7. Brayan Pena (S) C

8. Jarrod Dyson (L) CF

9. Alcides Escobar (R) SS

Twins:

1. Denard Span (L) CF

2. Darin Mastroianni (R) RF

3. Josh Willingham (R) LF

4. Justin Morneau (L) 1B

5. Ryan Doumit (S) DH

6. Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B

7. Brian Dozier (R) SS

8. Drew Butera (R) C

9. Jamey Carroll (R) 2B

Read more about the Kansas City Royals at Royals Review and for more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. Head over to Baseball Nation for additional news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Royals Vs. Twins: Game 2 Preview, TV Info And More

The Kansas City Royals continue their three-game series against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night after the dropping the opening game on Monday. Kansas City couldn't take advantage of the Twins despite them not having star catcher Joe Mauer, whose been sidelined with a thumb injury suffered recently against the Cleveland Indians.

With the Royals still a couple of games ahead of the Twins at the bottom of the American League Central, Kansas City looks to stall Minnesota's winning streak at three games.

Bruce Chen (4-5, 4.86 ERA) will take the mound for Kansas City, facing Francisco Liriano (1-5, 7.20 ERA) in the pitching duel.

Here is a look at the game schedule:

Date/Time: Tuesday, June 5, 8:10 p.m. ET

TV: Fox Sports Kansas City

Online streaming: MLB.tv

Read more about the Kansas City Royals at Royals Review and for more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. Head over to Baseball Nation for additional news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Royals Vs. Twins: Will Smith Struggles In 10-7 Loss

Royals starter Will Smith allowed seven earned runs over 4 1/3 innings as Kansas City dropped its series-opener against the Minnesota Twins 10-7 on Tuesday night at Kaufmann Stadium.

The scoring started right away for Minnesota, when Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer to give the Twins the early lead. Smith gave up another run before Mike Moustakas hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to get the Royals on the board. Two Minnesota errors in the fourth helped the Royals score three and tie the game at four, but the Twins answered with a three-run frame of their own, which included home runs from Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe.

Moustakas went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored as the only Kansas City player with multiple hits. Eric Hosmer went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.

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Royals Vs. Twins: Kansas City Has Chance To Get Back In The Race

The Royals enter a crucial stretch for making a run up the division standings.