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
- Darin Mastroianni CF
- Jamey Carroll 2B
- Josh Willingham DH
- Justin Morneau 1B
- Ryan Doumit C
- Chris Parmelee RF
- Trevor Plouffe 3B
- Matt Carson LF
- Pedro Florimon SS
Kansas City Royals
- Lorenzo Cain CF
- Alcides Escobar SS
- Alex Gordon LF
- Billy Butler DH
- Mike Moustakas 3B
- Brayan Pena C
- Jeff Francoeur RF
- Eric Hosmer 1B
- 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.
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