With a week until the trade deadline, the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins find themselves with different priorities ahead of the series opener of a three-game set today in Minneapolis.
Entering Monday’s games, Minnesota sits a game behind the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final American League wild-card spot. The Twins, who have won four of their last five, also trail the A.L. Central-leading Chicago White Sox by 3½ games.
Minnesota is the first of six teams within 5½ games of a wild-card position.
Hoping to bolster the Twins’ postseason chances, Taj Bradley (9-4, 3.69 ERA) will look to stamp a solid July. The 25-year-old is 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in his last five starts.
Bradley threw seven innings of one-run, two-hit ball, striking out five and walking three last Thursday in a no-decision against Cleveland. The Twins won 3-1 in 12 innings.
Bradley has allowed two runs or fewer in 14 of his 20 starts this season, including six of his past seven. The right-hander is 2-1 with an 0.73 ERA in four career starts against the Royals. He faced them April 2 and tossed six scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out three and walking one in a 5-1 win.
Offensively, Minnesota is coming off a much-needed scoring outburst. The highest-scoring team in the American League (511 runs) had scored three runs or fewer in three straight games before posting an 11-8 victory Sunday against the Athletics.
Kody Clemens tripled twice in a three-hit effort for the Twins, who saw a seven-run lead reduced to two before holding on for their first series win of the second half of the regular season.
“Collectively as a group, we don’t panic,” Clemens said. “We don’t feel any panic there. It’s just how baseball goes. You’re not going to win them all. Sometimes, the losses come together, and that’s just how the game is. It’s a long season. You just have to keep going game by game.”
Kansas City, meanwhile, is sure to be a seller before next Monday’s deadline. The Royals are 17 games below .500 and nine games out of the postseason picture.
In two post-All-Star break starts, Seth Lugo (4-6, 4.36 ERA) has made himself into an interesting trade candidate. The veteran right-hander allowed four combined earned runs in 13 innings in those two starts. Lugo allowed three runs on three hits across seven innings, striking out five and walking two in a 5-4 win last Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.
Lugo is one of several pieces that could be moved for a Kansas City team that’s on pace for its first losing season since 2023.
“We’ve got the deadline looming. There’s always talk about that, and it’s always kind of a thorn in the side this time of year,” Royals catcher Luke Maile said. “But guys want to show up and play for each other every day, and I think that’s the most important.”
Lugo, 36, is 1-3 with a 5.24 ERA in 10 career appearances (eight starts) against the Twins. He surrendered five runs on six hits in five innings in a no-decision June 4 against Minnesota. Kansas City won 8-6.
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