Twins Vs. Royals Final Score: Kansas City Squeaks Out 6-4 Win

The Minnesota Twins could not complete a sweep of the Kansas City Royals, as they fell 6-4 at Kauffman Stadium Sunday.

The Twins jumped out two a 2-0 lead after the top of the second, as Justin Morneau hit an RBI groundout while Chris Parmlee added a solo home run.

The Royals would fight back, however, adding three runs in the bottom of the second and one in the fifth to go up 4-2. Twins starter Esmerling Vazquez struggled in his start, going just 5.2 innings allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out two.

The Twins tied the game at four when Alexi Casilla hit a two-run single, however the Royals took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when Tony Abreu hit an RBI single. KC added a run of insurance in the bottom of the eighth when Lorenzo Cain hit an RBI double.

Despite the loss, Joe Mauer was solid at the dish, going 3-for-4 with a double. Parmlee was the other Twin with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with the home run.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over toRoyals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

P.J. Walters, Esmerling Vasquez First September Call-Ups For Twins

With the expansion of rosters for the final month of the season, the Minnesota Twins have reinstated right-hander P.J. Walters from the DL and promoted right-hander Esmerling Vasquez from Triple-A, as Judd Zulgad of 1500 ESPN reports.

Walters was placed on the disabled list back on June 14 due to right shoulder inflammation, eventually being shifted to the 60-day disabled list in July. He recently made some rehab appearances with Triple-A Rochester, though, so he'll work his way back into the mix for the remainder of the season.

Vasquez, 28, has spent the entire year in Triple-A, appearing in 31 games (including eight starts). Although he's spent significant time in relief this season, he's scheduled to start for the Twins on Sunday against Kansas City. Over 100.1 innings with Rochester this year, he's posted a 2.78 ERA with 98 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Josh Willingham Injury: Sore Hamstring Keeping Him Out Of Sunday's Game

The Twins are sitting left fielder Josh Willingham on Sunday with a sore left hamstring.

Twins Vs. Royals Lineups: Joe Mauer At 1B, Justin Morneau At DH As Minnesota Goes For Sweep

The Minnesota Twins look to complete a sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Game time is 1:10 p.m. CT. Esmerling Vasquez makes his first career start for the Twins against Luis Mendoza (7-9, 4.51 ERA). Here are the lineups:

Twins:

1. CF Ben Revere (L)

2. 3B Jamey Carroll (R)

3. 1B Joe Mauer (L)

4. DH Justin Morneau (L)

5. C Ryan Doumit (S)

6. RF Chris Parmelee (L)

7. LF Matt Carson (R)

8. 2B Alexi Casilla (S)

9. SS Pedro Florimon (S)

Royals:

1. RF David Lough (L)

2. SS Alcides Escobar (R)

3. LF Alex Gordon (L)

4. DH Billy Butler (R)

5. C Salvador Perez (R)

6. 3B Mike Moustakas (L)

7. CF Lorenzo Cain (R)

8. 1B Eric Hosmer (L)

9. 2B Tony Abreu (S)

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Royals Preview: Minnesota Looks To Complete Sweep Sunday

The Minnesota Twins hand the ball to recently called up Esmerling Vasquez to finish off the weekend sweep of the Kansas City Royals Sunday afternoon.

The Twins swept the doubleheader in Kansas City yesterday after Friday's game was postponed and now look to Vasquez, who has not pitched in the Major Leagues since June of 2011 and is making his first appearance with Minnesota after being acquired by the club last September. This will be his first career start. As a reliever, Vasquez is 5-10 with a 4.66 ERA.

For the Royals, Luis Mendoza will take the mound. The 28-year-old right-hander is 7-9 with a 4.51 ERA on the season but was victorious against Minnesota in their last meeting, allowing three runs over 6.1 innings in a 7-3 win.

Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau carried the weight for the Twins yesterday. Mauer's grand slam carried Minnesota to victory in yesterday's night cap, while Morneau's two RBIs in the early game were the difference in the 3-1 victory.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Royals Final Score: Minnesota Wins Second Game, 8-7

The Twins swept Saturday's doubleheader against the Royals twice, winning the second game by a tight score of 8-7. Minnesota picked up right where it left off in the first game and scored all eight of its runs in the first two innings -- four in the first and another in the second.

Justin Morneau plated the first run of the game with a ground out, before Chris Parmelee blasted a three-run shot to give the Twins a 4-0 lead. Then Joe Mauer's grand slam in the second inning gave Minnesota all it would need to defeat the Royals.

Salvador Perez homered for the Royals. Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler also drove in runs for Kansas City.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City for more on the Royals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Royals Recap: Chris De Vries Pitches Twins To 3-1 Win

Minnesota Twins pitcher Chris De Vries (4-5, 4.41 ERA) gave up one run in 6.2 innings to lead the Twins to a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals in the first game of a double-header Saturday.

Justin Morneau gave De Vries a lead to work with early, driving in a run on a double in the first inning and then giving Minnesota a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Ryan Doumit drove in the other Twins run with a single in the fifth. Jamey Carroll was 3-for-4 for the Twins.

The only Royals run came in the seventh on an RBI single by Johnny Giavotella. Will Smith (4-7, 5.45 ERA) took the loss for the Royals, giving up three runs in six innings.

Game two of the double-header is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. CT.

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Twins Vs. Royals Game Preview: Doubleheader Scheduled For Saturday

The Minnesota Twins (53-78) will look to start their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals (59-71) on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium after the series opener was postponed due to rain on Friday. The Twins and Royals will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game scheduled to start at 4:10 p.m. The second game is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m.

The Twins will start rookie right-hander Cole De Vries (3-5, 4.68 ERA) in the first game. De Vries is coming off of a rough August when he was just 1-3 with a 6.28 ERA. De Vries is 2-0 against the Royals with a 4.09 ERA.

Rookie left-hander Will Smith (4-6, 5.55 ERA) will start for the Royals opposite De Vries. Smith is 2-2 in his last four starts. Smith was also chased early in his only start against the Twins this season, with a 13.5 ERA in 4 1/3 innings of work on June 4. Smith was pulled after giving up seven earned runs on eight hits.

Here are the expected lineups for Game 1:

Minnesota Twins

1. Darin Mastroianni CF
2. Jamey Carroll 2B
3. Josh Willingham DH
4. Justin Morneau 1B
5. Ryan Doumit C
6. Chris Parmelee RF
7. Trevor Plouffe 3B
8. Matt Carson LF
9. Pedro Florimon SS

Kansas City Royals

1. Lorenzo Cain CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Alex Gordon LF
4. Billy Butler DH
5. Mike Moustakas 3B
6. Brayan Pena C
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Eric Hosmer 1B
9. Johnny Giavotella 2B

Liam Hendricks (0-7, 6.02 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Twins in Game 2. Luke Hochevar (7-12, 4.93 ERA) will start the second game for the Royals.

For more on the Twins, keep an eye on Twinkie Town. For more Royals coverage, visit Royals Review. For all of your baseball needs, check out SB Nation's dedicated MLB hub.

Twins Vs. Royals: Lineups, Twins Look To Cool Off Royals

The Minnesota Twins will look to cool off the Kansas City Royals, who are coming off of an unexpected three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, as the two teams square off in the first of a three-game series Friday night at Kauffmann Stadium.

The Twins will send right-hander Cole De Vries (3-5, 4.68 ERA) to the hill. De Vries is 1-3 in the month of August with a 6.28 ERA.

Left-hander Will Smith (4-6, 5.55 ERA) will toe the slab for the Royals. Smith has been battered a bit in his last two starts, posting an 8.31 ERA and allowing a 1.101 OPS to opposing hitters.

Minnesota Twins

1. Darin Mastroianni CF
2. Jamey Carroll 2B
3. Josh Willingham DH
4. Justin Morneau 1B
5. Ryan Doumit C
6. Chris Parmelee RF
7. Trevor Plouffe 3B
8. Matt Carson LF
9. Pedro Florimon C

Twins Roster Moves: Matt Carson Returns To Take Denard Span's Place

The Twins announced Friday that they recalled outfielder Matt Carson from Triple-A Rochester to replace injured outfielder Denard Span.

Span was placed on the 15-day DL on Thursday retroactive to Tuesday with a nagging shoulder strain.

Carson has hit .282 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs in 115 games with Rochester this season. He also played five games with the Twins earlier this month, going 8-for-21 with a double and an RBI before being optioned back to Rochester.

Span is hoping this DL stint doesn't end his season, according to the Star Tribune:

"Hopefully these next 10 days it'll heal enough to where I can finish the season off and start that healing process again during the offseason," Span said. "But I'm just going to listen to my body. ... I'm going to be smart when I come off the DL and do what I think is best."

Twins Vs. Royals Preview: Minnesota Heads To Kansas City On Friday

The Twins open a three-game series against the Royals on Friday night.