The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins will try to begin new winning streaks when they open a four-game series on Monday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The Royals had won eight in a row before they were taken down 4-1 by the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
“We won a series on the road against a good team,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “We’ll take that.”
The Twins saw their four-game winning streak come to an end with a 6-2 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers a few hours later.
The Royals plan to start right-hander Alec Marsh in the series opener.
Marsh (4-1, 2.72 ERA) went 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in five starts in April and has backed that up with a solid month of May, going 1-1 with a 2.76 ERA in three starts.
He won his most recent outing on Tuesday, allowing three runs and five hits in six innings of a 10-3 victory against the Detroit Tigers.
Marsh made his only start against the Twins on July 5 of last year in Minneapolis and allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits in five innings, taking the loss in the 5-0 defeat. He walked three and struck out five.
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the only run for Kansas City on Sunday with his ninth home run of the season.
Witt is riding a nine-game hitting streak in which he’s batting .368 with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
“He’s a generational talent,” Marsh said. “You think you’d get used to it, being around him every day, and then he does something new that you haven’t seen and it’s just ‘wow.’ The wow factor is unbelievable.”
The Twins plan to start right-hander Joe Ryan on Monday.
Ryan (3-3, 3.15) is coming off his best start of the season, allowing three hits over seven shutout innings in a 10-0 win against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
“That was sharp Joe Ryan, and he was not going to be denied,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The way he was throwing the ball, it looked like he wanted the ball in his hands: ‘Out of my way and let me go.’ He did a great job.”
He’s still looking to win consecutive starts for the first time since April 2023, when he won all five of his outings that month.
Ryan is 5-0 in seven career starts against the Royals with a 1.52 ERA.
He faced Kansas City in his season opener on March 30 and allowed one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings, but did not get the decision in the 5-1 victory.
The Royals placed second baseman Michael Massey on the 10-day injured list on Sunday because of a lower back ligament sprain and recalled shortstop Nick Loftin from Triple-A Omaha.
Loftin pinch-hit for left fielder MJ Melendez in the seventh inning on Sunday and stayed in the game. He went 0-for-2 in his first game with Kansas City since April 17.
“We think the world of Nick,” Quatraro said. “We think he’s going to be a really good major league player. The opportunity hasn’t been there yet on a consistent basis, so we’ll see how he mixes in here.”
–Field Level Media