The Minnesota Twins visit the Kansas City Royals Saturday for the second game of the final series of the regular season for both clubs. The Twins beat the Detroit Tigers on Thursday 10-4 as Jonathan Schoop homered for the Twins. The home run was the 300th of the season for Minnesota. Willians Astudillo also homered for the Twins.
The Royals were off Thursday and lost to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday 10-2. Nicky Lopez and Meibrys Viloria had the only two RBIs for the Royals. The loss was the 101st of the season for the Royals. Kansas City manager Ned Yost announced he would retire at the end of this season and has just two games remaining at the helm for the Royals.
Nelson Cruz is the Minnesota team leader in batting average at .305 and in home runs with 40. Eddie Rosario leads in RBIs with 108, while Jorge Polanco leads in hits with 186. As a team, Minnesota has a .270 batting average. On Saturday, the Twins will send Martin Perez to the mound. The lefthander is 10-7 with an ERA of 5.13, 130 Ks and 64 BBs.
Whit Merrifield leads Kansas City with a .299 batting average and in hits with 201. Jorge Soler leads KC in home runs with 45 and in RBIs with 112. As a team, Kansas City is averaging .245 at the plate. On Saturday, the Royals will send Glenn Sparkman to the mound. The right-hander is 4-11 with an ERA of 6.11, 77 Ks and 40 BBs.
