(Sports Network) – A slow start to the season is in the past for the Minnesota
Twins, who will begin a 12-game homestand tonight versus AL Central opponents
with the first of four straight meetings with the Kansas City Royals.

The Twins will also host both Cleveland and Detroit, and entered the All-Star
break having won nine of 12 games. They took three of four matchups with the
Chicago White Sox before the hiatus, including a 6-3 victory on Sunday from
U.S. Cellular Field. All-Star Michael Cuddyer, Rene Tosoni and Jason Repko
each had two hits and an RBI for the Twins, who were 17-37 at one point but
now sit 6 1/2 games behind idle Detroit for the AL Central lead.

“It’s just the nature of this division, everybody beats everybody up,” said
Cuddyer, who went 0-for-1 in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. “When it’s all said and
done, hopefully we are where we set out to be.”

Alexi Casilla ended with two hits and two runs scored, while Ben Revere
recorded a pair of hits for the Twins, who received six innings of one-run
ball out of winning starter Anthony Swarzak. Matt Capps hurled a scoreless
ninth for his 15th save.

Francisco Liriano will toe the rubber for the Twins tonight and he’s only 5-7
with a 5.06 earned run average in 15 starts this season. Liriano, who tossed a
no-hitter on May 3 at the White Sox, did not record a decision in his previous
outing, a 12-5 loss versus Tampa Bay last Wednesday. He gave up five runs and
six hits in 4 1/3 frames with four K’s and four walks.

Liriano, a left-hander, lost to Kansas City on April 13 in a 10-5 loss and was
reached for seven runs and eight hits over five innings. In 12 career games (9
starts) against the Royals, Liriano is 5-4 with a 4.64 ERA. He is 2-3 in seven
trips to the Target Field mound this season.

Kansas City lost three of four to the Tigers before the break and is just 6-15
in its last 21 games. The Royals suffered a 2-1 loss in Sunday’s series finale
with the Tigers, as Jeff Francis was dealt the loss for giving up both
runs and four hits in six innings.

“Jeff did exactly what we needed him to do and that was keep us in the game
against [Justin] Verlander and give us a chance,” Royals outfielder Jeff
Francoeur said. “We got a couple (chances) late there with an opportunity and
we just weren’t able to come through.”

Alcides Escobar scored KC’s lone run of the game in the eighth inning on a
throwing error. Aaron Crow was the Royals’ lone All-Star representative and
did not see action in a 5-1 win by the National League.

The Royals, last in the AL Central standings, have won three of their last
four road games and will send Bruce Chen to the bump Thursday. Chen is a solid
5-2 on the season to go along with a 3.26 ERA in 10 starts and is coming off
six innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 victory at the White Sox last Wednesday.

Chen struck out four and walked three, and is 2-2 with a 2.82 ERA in four road
outings this season. The lefty did not record a decision in a 4-3 win over
Minnesota on April 29, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He is 1-3 with a
6.51 ERA in 14 career games (4 starts) against the Twins.

Minnesota swept a four-game set against the Royals from June 2-5 at Kauffman
Stadium and is 5-4 in the 2011 season series. The two division inhabitants
split their only two meetings this year at Target Field.

The Sports Network

By Christopher Gates

– Managing Editor

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May 27, 2011 – The Minnesota Twins are baseball’s worst team, and you would expect a bad team to struggle on the road. What has been almost totally unexplainable thus far in 2011 is how awful the Minnesota Twins have been at Target Field.

The Twins have played just 18 of their 48 games this season at Target Field, and while they are 11-19 on the road, they’ve posted just five wins at home this season to account for their overall record of 16-32. Tuesday’s victory over the Seattle Mariners was the first win the Minnesota nine had garnered in front of the hometown crowd in one full calendar month, with their last win coming against the Cleveland Indians on April 24.

Over the weekend, the Twins will host a Los Angeles Angels team that has exactly the same record at home as they have on the road. The Angels are 13-13 at home, and 13-13 on the road in 2011, but have dropped six of their last seven away from Anaheim. The Angels have also scored a total of just one run in their last three road games.

Tonight, Minnesota will send right-hander Scott Baker (2-3, 4.12 ERA) to the mound. Baker’s last start was on Saturday, as he allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings pitched in Minnesota’s 9-6 loss to Arizona, a game in which they had a 6-2 lead that they blew late. In nine career starts against Los Angeles, Baker is just 1-5 with an ERA of 5.01. He will be opposed by rookie Tyler Chatwood (3-2, 4.06 ERA). Chatwood got a victory in his last start, holding the Atlanta Braves to just one run in seven innings on Sunday, but got bombed in the start before that as he allowed five runs and seven hits in just 2.1 innings in the Angels’ 14-0 loss to Oakland.

First pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time at Target Field. As always, Twinkie Town will have all the action for you in their Game Thread, and we’ll have the recap here for you when things have finished up.

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, angels baseball, los angeles angels baseball, angels vs twins, angels at twins, Scott Baker (P – MIN), Tyler Chatwood (P – ANA), Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota Twins, May 27, 2011 7:10 PM CDT

McClatchy news services |
• Published May 24, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS – Luis Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the Seattle Mariners rallied to win their sixth consecutive game, beating Jim Thome and the Minnesota Twins, 8-7, on Monday night.

Carlos Peguero’s single in the ninth scored pinch-runner Michael Saunders with the tying run, helping the Mariners overcome Thome’s powerful return to the lineup.

In his first game off the disabled list, Thome homered twice — including a 465-foot shot that bounced high in the air after landing on the Target Field pavilion in the fourth inning.

He also hit a line drive that had just enough height to clear the wall in left field in the seventh.

The slugger took a curtain call after his second homer, and the Twins held a 7-4 lead. But once again, the bullpen couldn’t hold on.

Jack Wilson led off the 10th with a single against reliever Anthony Swarzak (0-2) and scored on Rodriguez’s fly to center.

Brandon League pitched a perfect inning for his 11th save in 14 chances.

Jamey Wright (1-1) worked around two walks in the ninth to earn the win. He got Jason Repko to ground out with a runner on second to send the game to extra innings.

Jack Cust homered for the Mariners, his first in 40 games. That was the longest drought of his career.

Denard Span also went deep for the Twins.

After Carl Pavano recovered from a rocky start to retire the final eight batters he faced, Joe Nathan allowed two runs in the eighth and only recorded one out before being relieved by Matt Capps.

Capps escaped the eighth, but Peguero lined a two-out single to center in the ninth to score Saunders from second and tie it at 7.

Capps had a chance to catch Saunders too far off second base on a comebacker to the mound with one out, but failed to make the throw.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire removed his hat in disgust in the dugout, something he has done often as his team continues to make uncharacteristic mental mistakes.

Seattle and Minnesota are the two weakest hitting teams in the American League, but combined for 15 runs and 25 hits on Monday.

It was the first time in eight games that the Mariners allowed more than two runs and the first time in nine games that a Seattle starter failed to pitch at least seven innings.

Jason Vargas allowed five runs in 42/3 innings and was chased after Delmon Young’s single gave the Twins a 5-4 lead.

The entire Twins team circled around a large No. 3 behind second base to honor Harmon Killebrew during a pregame ceremony. The Twins will hold a public memorial service for Killebrew at Target Field on Thursday.

RIVERA WANTS TO STAY

He was just a kid, a young catcher a little awed by the big leagues when Rene Rivera first joined the Seattle Mariners in 2004.

Over the next three seasons, Rivera played 53 games with Seattle, never more than 35 in a year, and then all but disappeared into one minor league system after another.

Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Twins – desperate for a catcher – brought Rivera up from Triple-A. A few days later, he played his first game in the majors since September 2006.

“I felt like I was in the big-leagues for the first time,” Rivera said Monday. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get back, but I love the game so I kept playing.”

Rivera is now 27, and while no longer a prospect, he’s a usable piece for the Twins.

“Rene was hitting everything on the nose in Rochester,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Rivera has played well behind the plate and – since starting 1-for-16, he’s gone 3-for-9 with a homer.

The Mariners at one point thought Rivera’s future was behind the plate in Seattle, but when they signed Kenji Johjima before the 2006 season, Rivera’s role was greatly diminished.

“I was in the minors a long time, but I stayed in baseball because I love playing,” Rivera said. “Now I have the chance to use everything I learned to help a big-league team.”

Staff writer Larry LaRue contributed to this report