Twins Vs. Royals Final Score: Ryan Doumit's Big Day From Plate Leads Minnesota To 7-5 Win

The Twins took their three-game road series with the Royals on Sunday in Kansas City, as 29-year-old starter Samuel Deduno went 6.1 innings for his first career victory in a 7-5 Minnesota win.

Deduno looked visibly improved over this last two shaky outings earlier in the month and peppered the zone often as 73 of his 104 pitches went for strikes. Deduno's biggest push in the run support department came right away from the bat of designated hitter Ryan Doumit, who followed a solo home run in the second inning with a two-run single in the next frame. For good measure, the versatile Doumit stepped to the plate in the sixth inning and promptly smashed his second solo home run of the afternoon, capping off a day where he finished 3-for-4 with four runs batted in.

Minnesota's road trip presses on with a Monday date against the White Sox from US Cellular Field, a game that will open up the two rivals' three-game set. Lefty Francisco Liriano will take the mound for the Twins at a time when his name is firmly entrenched in trade talks around the country, and might even be suiting up for the final time in a Minnesota uniform.

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Twins Vs. Royals Starting Lineups: Denard Span To Start, Trevor Plouffe Out Until Monday

After a brief scare on Saturday night, the Minnesota Twins will have Denard Span back in the lineup for Sunday's game with Kansas City after the speedy outfielder left game two of the series with dizziness in the late innings. Back to health and deemed fit for his usual leadoff duties by manager Ron Gardenhire, Span will hope to give the Twins a boost in the third and final game of the series while third baseman Trevor Plouffe sits out his second consecutive game:

Replacing the hot-hitting Plouffe at third base once again will be Jamey Carroll, who will yield second base duties to reserve Alexi Casilla. The 26-year-old Plouffe is hitting .317 since June 1 and has been one of the American Leagues most pleasant surprises with 19 home runs and 38 RBI, so the Twins are lucky that he doesn't appear to be hampered by his thumb injury.

Here are Sunday's lineups:

Twins
1. Denard Span - CF
2. Ben Revere - RF
3. Joe Mauer - 1B
4. Josh Willingham - LF
5. Ryan Doumit - DH
6. Brian Dozier - SS
7. Alexi Casilla - 2B
8. Drew Butera - C
9. Jamey Carroll - 3B
Samuel Deduno - SP

Royals
1. Alex Gordon - LF
2. Alcides Escobar - SS
3. Mike Moustakas - 3B
4. Billy Butler - DH
5. Lorenzo Cain - CF
6. Salvador Perez - C
7. Jeff Francoeur - RF
8. Eric Hosmer - 1B
9. Chris Getz - 2B
Jeremy Guthrie - SP

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Twins Vs. Royals: Minnesota To Get Look At New Royal Jeremy Guthrie

Minnesota will get their first look at former Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie this season as he makes his Kansas City Royals debut at Kaufman Stadium in Sunday's rubber game of this three-game set.

The Royals acquired Guthrie from the Colorado Rockies this week in exchange for massively disappointing lefty Jonathan Sanchez. Guthrie struggled mightily in the thin air of Coors Field but posted a sub-3 ERA away from Denver this season. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his final start for the Rockies Wednesday while giving up four runs.

Meanwhile, youngster Sam Deduno will make only his third career Major League start. He walked five in his last start against Baltimore and allowed three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is away from the team on paternity leave after his wife gave birth to the couple's second child. Minnesota recalled Chris Parmelee from Triple-A Rochester to fill his spot.

First pitch is slated for 1:10 pm CT from Kaufman Stadium and the game will be televised on FS-N.

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Twins OF Denard Span Leaves Saturday's Game With Dizziness, Hopes To Return Sunday

After sitting out Friday's series opener on normal rest, Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span was pulled from Saturday's game in the eighth inning after experiencing dizziness. The 28-year-old speedster mentioned after the game how it was the worst he'd felt all season, but still told the Pioneer Press' Ben Goessling that he hopes to return Sunday:

A .221 hitter in June who has picked things back up this month from the plate, Span finished 0-for-4 in Saturday's game with a pair of strikeouts. Thankfully for the Twins it doesn't appear like Span will miss any time, which was an immediate fear for fans upon seeing him inexplicably get pulled from a competitive game down the stretch (that, or a late-night trade). Manager Ron Gardenhire could also opt to give Span another day off on Sunday just to play it safe here, and may be wise to look to reserve outfielder Darin Mastroianni, who is hitting .450 in the month of July, as a possible fill-in.

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Twins Vs. Royals Final Score: Minnesota Knocked Around In 7-3 Loss

With a chance to pull themselves out of last place in the American League Central, the Minnesota Twins came up short on Saturday in a 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

Separated by just a half-game in the divisional standings heading into Saturday's game two, the Twins and Royals combined for 24 hits as both squads took turns knocking opposing pitchers around throughout the evening. Taking the loss to fall to 8-4 on the year, Minnesota lefty Scott Diamond went six innings of four-run ball to conclude one of his poorest starts as of late. Diamond served up 10 hits to Royals hitters in the lackluster outing, marking the highest total he's yielded all season.

Aside from the sheer amount of base hits racked up, both teams still managed to kill off their own rallies on numerous occasions by hitting into double plays, as Minnesota tallied three while the Royals picked up four. In the end, first baseman Chris Parmelee was the only Twins player to put forth a multi-hit performance (2-for-3), while outfielder Denard Span finished 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts after sitting Friday's game out.

Right-hander Samuel Deduno will get the ball for manager Ron Gardenhire on Sunday with an eye on taking the three-game series, as the 29-year-old Dominican pitcher will hope to improve upon his 8:8 K:BB ratio through two starts.

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Twins Vs. Royals: Minnesota Has Chance To Leave AL Central Cellar

The Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins started the season with hopes of climbing out of the cellar in the AL Central, but Saturday's game finds the two teams locked in a battle for fourth place in the division. Both will be looking to generate a little more offense after Friday night's game, which went 11 innings and ended in a 2-1 Minnesota win.

The Twins will send Scott Diamond to the mound, who has managed to put together a decent stretch after a middling beginning to his season. Diamond is 3-0 in his last four starts, and leads all Minnesota pitchers in wins with eight. Kansas City will counter with Luis Mendoza, who has lost three of his last four decisions.

Saturday's game will be held at Kaufmann Stadium and will begin at 6:10 p.m.

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Twins Vs. Royals Final: Minnesota Wins 2-1 In Extra Innings

The Minnesota Twins needed 11 innings do it, but they managed to grab a needed win on Friday night against the Kansas City Royals. A base hit in extra innings gave the Twins a 2-1 win, only their third win in eight games since the All-Star break.

In the top of the 11th, Joe Mauer opened things with a double. Josh Willingham drove him in with a single that stood up as the game winner. Glen Perkins worked the bottom of the inning for his fifth save. Casey Fein picked up the win.

Nick Blackburn started for the Twins, pitching an effective game after giving up six earned runs in each of his last two starts. In six and two thirds innings, Blackburn allowed just one run on seven hits, striking out two and issuing no free passes.

The Twins and Royals play another one on Saturday, with a 7:05 p.m. Eastern start time. Scott Diamond makes his 14th start of the season in that game, looking for his fourth win in his last five outings.

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Twins Vs. Royals: Starting Lineups For Friday's Game

Minnesota will kick off a six-game divisional road trip on Friday evening from Kansas City, as the Twins look to turn their second half skid around against the Royals.

Usual leadoff hitter Denard Span will be given the night off while his team faces Kansas City's right-handed Luke Hochevar, giving way for young speedster Ben Revere to nestle into the top of the batting order. With Revere also manning center, Darin Mastroianni will get the start in right field and bat eighth in manager Ron Gardenhire's lineup. The 26-year-old Mastroianni is hitting .438 through 16 July at-bats and will have a chance to work his way into future playing time if he can continue to produce offensively.

On the mound for Minnesota to open the series will be erratic right-hander Nick Blackburn. After serving up six earned runs in each of his last two outings, Blackburn's 2012 earned-run average has ballooned up to 8.10, and he could be another poor effort away from being banished from the rotation.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Twins
1. Ben Revere - CF
2. Jamey Carroll - SS
3. Joe Mauer - 1B
4. Josh Willingham - LF
5. Justin Morneau - DH
6. Trevor Plouffe - 3B
7. Ryan Doumit - C
8. Darin Mastroianni - RF
9. Alexi Casilla - 2B
Nick Blackburn - SP

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

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Twins Vs. Royals: Minnesota Looks To Get Back On Track Against Kansas City

Kansas City will host the Minnesota Twins for a three game set in a battle of teams at the bottom of the AL Central.