Kansas City Minnesota Twins Series Preview

The Twins begin a series with the Kansas City Royals tonight. This is a huge series for the Twins. It is their first series since the All Star break. While they are six and a half games back, this stretch until the deadline will be the final push for the team. If they falter and move back to say 8 or 9 games back by the time that July 31st deadline rolls around, they will likely be sellers and could trade away some interesting players. Players that could be dealt include Francisco Liriano, Michael Cuddyer, and Jim Thome. Here are the pitching match ups for the Twins upcoming series with the Kansas City Royals.

July 14th:

Liriano (5-7)

Chen (5-2)

July 15th:

Blackburn (7-6)

Hochevar (5-8)

July 16th:

Pavano (6-6)

Francis (3-10)

July 17th:
Duensing (6-7) Paulino (1-6)

Tampa Bay Rays Twins Series Preview

Okay so the Tampa Bay Rays and the Twins began their series on Monday. They got it started with a bang. The Twins beat David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0. Brian Duensing threw a 6-hit shut out and the Twins tagged All Star David Price for 4 runs in his first four innings. Danny Valencia and Michael Cuddyer both hit huge home runs that made the game wide open. Duensing didn't need all that help, but the breathing room had to be nice.

Here's a look at the pitching matchups for the next two games (from ESPN):

Tuesday July 5th 8:10pm et

Tampa Bay

(47-38)

SP: Shields (8-5)

Minnesota

(37-46)

SP: Baker (6-5)

Wednesday July 6th 1:10pm ET

• TB: Davis (7-6)
• MIN: Liriano (5-7)