As the sun came up on this Sunday morning, the Minnesota Twins found themselves in a bit of a strange position. They didn't just have the worst record in the American League Central. . .they didn't just have the worst record in the American League. . .they woke up this morning with the worst record in all of Major League Baseball.
The Twins 9-17 mark through the season's first month gave them a franchise record for most losses in the month of April. Any potential good feelings from a two-game mini-sweep of the Cleveland Indians last weekend were crushed when the Twins got blitzed by the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field and blew two games over the past two days at Kauffman Stadium.
Today, ace Carl Pavano will attempt to stop the bleeding for the Twins as they try to avoid running their losing streak to six against the Kansas City Royals.
Pavano (2-2, 5.12 ERA) pitched well in his last start, the Twins' 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians one week ago. He threw seven innings, scattering six hits and allowing three runs while getting the victory. The Royals will counter with right-hander Luke Hochevar (2-3, 5.68). In his last start, which also came against Cleveland, the Tribe battered him for six runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings in a 9-4 Royals loss.
Here are today's starting lineups for both teams. First, the Twins lineup.
Denard Span, designated hitter
Jason Repko, center field
Justin Morneau, first base
Jason Kubel, right field
Danny Valencia, third base
Rene Tosoni, left field
Luke Hughes, second base
Drew Butera, catcher
Alexi Casilla, shortstop
And the lineup for the Royals.
Jarrod Dyson, center field
Mike Aviles, second base
Alex Gordon, left field
Billy Butler, designated hitter
Jeff Francoeur, right field
Wilson Betemit, third base
Kila Ka'aihue, first base
Matt Treanor, catcher
Alcides Escobar, shortstop
Check out the ubiquitous Twinkie Town Game Thread for discussion during the game, and we'll have the recap here for you when everything has finished up. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM Central time.