There's been little for fans of the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals to cheer about lately.
The slumping teams square off Friday night when the Twins travel to Kauffman Stadium for the start of a three-game set with the Royals.
8:10 PM ET, April 29, 2011
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Minnesota (9-15), currently last in the AL Central, comes in after having been outscored 29-6 while dropping three in a row to Tampa Bay including a doubleheader sweep Thursday.
The Twins watched the Rays' Ben Zobrist drive in eight runs en route to a 15-3 loss in the first game. He then opened the scoring in the nightcap with a two-run homer, sending Minnesota to a 6-1 defeat.
Denard Span broke up Jeff Niemann's no-hit bid with a single to shallow left field leading off the seventh, and later scored.
Starting Pitchers
Minnesota: Baker (1-2, 3.24 ERA)
Kansas City: Chen (3-1, 3.86 ERA)
"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to pick each other up and try to rally," Span said.
Bad as Minnesota has been lately, the Royals (12-13) have been worse. After being swept by Texas last weekend, Kansas City closed a winless six-game swing with an 8-2 loss to Cleveland on Thursday.
Starter Kyle Davies served up four homers in 3 1/3 innings, and Wilson Betemit had a two-run double in the seventh. The Royals were outscored 46-22 and surrendered 17 homers on the trip.
"It's been a rough week," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "It hasn't been a fun week. (Hopefully), we can get home and start something."
The Royals are 9-5 in Kansas City.
Jeff Francoeur comes in on a 17-game hitting streak in which he's batting .365 (23 for 63). Playing his first season for Kansas City, Francoeur is hitting .330 -- up from .249 with the Mets and Rangers last season.
Francoeur appears to have a good chance to further his run. He has a double and homer in two career plate appearances against Twins starter Scott Baker (1-2, 3.24 ERA).
The right-hander gave up four hits in seven scoreless innings to get the win in Minnesota's 3-1 victory April 21 in Baltimore.
Baker had allowed a total of eight runs over 11 innings while losing his first two starts of the year. Since then, he's 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two starts, striking out 15 while walking two.
"I'm feeling better with my mechanics," said Baker, who is 8-4 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 career starts versus the Royals, and 3-0 in his last five starts in Kansas City.
The Royals' Bruce Chen (3-1, 3.86) will try to bounce back from his first loss of 2011. Facing the Rangers Sunday, the left-hander was tagged for a season-high six runs and seven hits -- including three homers -- over 4 1/3 innings of an 8-7 defeat.
Chen had won seven consecutive decisions over his previous 11 starts.
"He was out there competing with everything he had, just couldn't get the ball down," Yost said.
Chen split two starts against Minnesota last year, but was saddled with an 8.49 ERA. He yielded 11 runs and 21 hits in 11 2/3 innings.
Span has an eight-game hitting streak and is 5 for 8 against Chen while Danny Valencia is 4 for 6.
The Twins and Royals split a two-game set April 12-13 at Target Field. Minnesota won six of nine in Kansas City last season, averaging 9.5 runs and 14.8 hits in the victories.
The slumping teams square off Friday night when the Twins travel to Kauffman Stadium for the start of a three-game set with the Royals.
8:10 PM ET, April 29, 2011
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Minnesota (9-15), currently last in the AL Central, comes in after having been outscored 29-6 while dropping three in a row to Tampa Bay including a doubleheader sweep Thursday.
The Twins watched the Rays' Ben Zobrist drive in eight runs en route to a 15-3 loss in the first game. He then opened the scoring in the nightcap with a two-run homer, sending Minnesota to a 6-1 defeat.
Denard Span broke up Jeff Niemann's no-hit bid with a single to shallow left field leading off the seventh, and later scored.
Starting Pitchers
Minnesota: Baker (1-2, 3.24 ERA)
Kansas City: Chen (3-1, 3.86 ERA)
Bad as Minnesota has been lately, the Royals (12-13) have been worse. After being swept by Texas last weekend, Kansas City closed a winless six-game swing with an 8-2 loss to Cleveland on Thursday.
Starter Kyle Davies served up four homers in 3 1/3 innings, and Wilson Betemit had a two-run double in the seventh. The Royals were outscored 46-22 and surrendered 17 homers on the trip.
"It's been a rough week," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "It hasn't been a fun week. (Hopefully), we can get home and start something."
The Royals are 9-5 in Kansas City.
Jeff Francoeur comes in on a 17-game hitting streak in which he's batting .365 (23 for 63). Playing his first season for Kansas City, Francoeur is hitting .330 -- up from .249 with the Mets and Rangers last season.
Francoeur appears to have a good chance to further his run. He has a double and homer in two career plate appearances against Twins starter Scott Baker (1-2, 3.24 ERA).
The right-hander gave up four hits in seven scoreless innings to get the win in Minnesota's 3-1 victory April 21 in Baltimore.
Baker had allowed a total of eight runs over 11 innings while losing his first two starts of the year. Since then, he's 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two starts, striking out 15 while walking two.
"I'm feeling better with my mechanics," said Baker, who is 8-4 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 career starts versus the Royals, and 3-0 in his last five starts in Kansas City.
The Royals' Bruce Chen (3-1, 3.86) will try to bounce back from his first loss of 2011. Facing the Rangers Sunday, the left-hander was tagged for a season-high six runs and seven hits -- including three homers -- over 4 1/3 innings of an 8-7 defeat.
Chen had won seven consecutive decisions over his previous 11 starts.
"He was out there competing with everything he had, just couldn't get the ball down," Yost said.
Chen split two starts against Minnesota last year, but was saddled with an 8.49 ERA. He yielded 11 runs and 21 hits in 11 2/3 innings.
Span has an eight-game hitting streak and is 5 for 8 against Chen while Danny Valencia is 4 for 6.
The Twins and Royals split a two-game set April 12-13 at Target Field. Minnesota won six of nine in Kansas City last season, averaging 9.5 runs and 14.8 hits in the victories.
