May 11, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez (49) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images The Minnesota Twins will try to start another home winning streak when they play the Kansas City Royals on Friday night to open a three-game series in Minneapolis.
The Twins won 10 games in a row at Target Field before losing 5-1 against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night. After a day off Thursday, they will regroup for a weekend matchup against another American League Central rival.
Since April 22, the Twins have won 20 of 27 games. Minnesota, Kansas City and the Cleveland Guardians enter Friday five games back of the first-place Detroit Tigers.
“It’s been a blast to be a part of,” Twins right-hander Joe Ryan said of the team’s month-long hot stretch. “Every day, you get to watch someone shove and it gets you focused on doing your part.”
Minnesota will face a challenge against the Royals, who won three out of four games against the visiting Twins in early April. The Royals are coming off a road series win against the San Francisco Giants, which included an 8-4 victory in Wednesday’s series finale.
The Royals have struggled to score this season, but several hitters are starting to heat up. That includes veteran catcher Salvador Perez, who belted a two-run home run on Wednesday – his first in more than a month.
The shot gave Perez 276 career homers, which ranks fifth among catchers in AL history. The only players in front of him are Carlton Fisk (376), Yogi Berra (358), Lance Parrish (289) and Ivan Rodriguez (281). All but Parrish are in the Hall of Fame.
“That’s pretty good,” Perez said. “A lot of hard work and sacrifice. It’s not easy, so to be a part of all the big names on that list is amazing.”
Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (4-2, 2.40 ERA) will try to prevent Perez and his teammates from maintaining hot bats on Friday. Lopez has 49 strikeouts in 45 innings in 2025 and allows less than one walk and hit per inning.
In his last outing, Lopez tossed six scoreless innings Sunday in a 7-0 road win against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 29-year-old gave up two hits, walked two and struck out six.
Lopez has faced the Royals seven times in his career. He is 5-1 with a 2.23 ERA and has struck out 51 in 44 1/3 innings.
Kansas City will counter with rookie left-hander Noah Cameron (1-1, 0.71). The 25-year-old was the franchise’s seventh-round pick out of Central Arkansas in 2021.
Cameron has posted back-to-back quality starts to begin his big league career. He fired 6 1/3 scoreless innings to win his debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 30 and, after a brief minors stint, he returned to allow one run in 6 1/3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday in a 1-0 loss.
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa could return Friday after missing the past week because of concussion-like symptoms. The three-time All-Star is hitting .236 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 41 games this season.
The Twins created a roster spot for Correa’s return on Thursday when they sent infielder Ryan Fitzgerald to Triple-A St. Paul. Fitzgerald went 0-for-3 during his brief time with the Twins, which marked his first stint in the majors.
–Field Level Media
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
NBA opening night best bets: Luka Dončić stars for LeBron-less Lakers; Thunder get past Kevin Durant, Rockets
The 2025-26 NBA season is officially at hand, and it's missing a key character. For the first time since the 2018-19 season, LeBron James is absent from the festivities. This is the first season opener he's ever missed, and his Lakers have been a fixture on opening night ever since their 2019 acquisition of Anthony Davis. He's not the only significant name we won't see on Tuesday. Obviously, the Houston Rockets will be without Fred VanVleet as he'll likely miss the season recovering from a torn ACL, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are missing key forward Jalen Williams. The season hasn't even begun and we're already missing several important players.Alas, we soldier on without them, as their teams now must. The Rockets, Thunder, Lakers and Warriors will tip off the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, even if they have to do so at […]
ITTF Under-19 Girls’ Doubles World Rankings: Syndrela-Divyanshi pair rises to World No. 1 position
View Comments New Delhi: Syndrela Das and Divyanshi Bhowmick have achieved a historic milestone by claiming the No. 1 position in the latest ITTF Under-19 Girls’ Doubles World Rankings, released on October 21, 2025. With 3910 points, the Indian duo leads the global standings ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Wu Jia-En and Wu Ying Syuan (3195) and France’s Leana Hochart and Nina Guo Zheng (3170). This marks a remarkable achievement for Indian table tennis, as six Indian girls have entered the world’s top 100 doubles pairs for the first time, reflecting the nation’s rapid progress in youth development. Syndrela and Divyanshi’s ascent to the top is the result of a string of strong performances at both domestic and international events. The pair has captured gold medals at the WTT Youth Contender in Goa and WTT Youth Star Contender in Tunis, in […]
Bottom 25 college football rankings: Florida State debuts after loss to Stanford, Penn State slips further
Penn State has some company in a miserable category this week, as the Nittany Lions are no longer the only former top-10 team ranked in the Bottom 25. Florida State is in the same boat after a 20-13 loss at Stanford marked its fourth straight defeat.The similarities between the programs are striking. Both were largely built by legendary multi-decade coaches in Joe Paterno at Penn State and Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Both schools were independent until finally joining conferences in the early 1990s, and both have gone through their ups and downs since those legendary coaches exited.But as the final college football Saturday of October approaches, the Nittany Lions and Seminoles vary in one particularly striking way. Penn State has fired its coach, and Florida State hasn't. When you consider that FSU is two seasons removed from its peak […]
Blue Jays advance to World Series on dramatic George Springer HR; NBA regular season tips off tonight
This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here. Happy Tuesday, sports fans. Brent Brookhouse here to guide you through all the news you need to know to get your day going, as well as preparing you for a massive day of sports action. Today, quite literally, your entire day can be spent watching sports, from the start of another week of UEFA Champions League action in the afternoon, to the start of the NBA regular season, and with a sprinkling of college football and NHL action. Is there anything better than a full day of sports as we head into the heart of the fall season? Let's jump into it. 🏈 Five things to […]
Cowboys’ Jerry Jones squashes idea that Micah Parsons’ agent interferes with George Pickens extension talks
Getty Images The discontent is well-documented between Jerry Jones and agent David Mulugheta, who represents former Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, but a contract extension for wide receiver George Pickens is independent of previous, unsuccessful negotiations with other players.Pickens, whom Mulugheta also represents, caught 36 passes for 607 and six touchdowns over seven games this season. Pickens will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.Jones previously said he had a "handshake" agreement on an extension for Parsons, but those terms were not vetted through Mulugheta in an official capacity. Jones never viewed Mulugheta as relevant to the negotiation process with Parsons' situation."Don't pay any attention to that," Jones said after Sunday's win over Washington of the Pickens-Mulugheta dynamic, via The Dallas Morning News. "At all. No attention to that at all. Too much was made of that, […]
Renner’s 2026 NFL mock draft 3.0: Jets and Raiders take QBs in top 5 amid stronger WR and defensive classes
Round 1 - Pick 1 Indiana • Jr • 6'5" / 225 lbs Projected Team N.Y. Jets PROSPECT RNK 3rd POSITION RNK 1st PAYDS 975 RUYDS 76 INTS 0 TDS 16 Mendoza hasn't been perfect, but he protects the football and has an NFL-ready skill set. He's logged only three turnover-worthy plays this season, per PFF, while maintaining a 9.2-yard average depth of target. That ability to push the ball downfield without recklessness is exactly what teams covet. Most notably, he's taken just six sacks all year and owns a low 10% pressure-to-sack conversion rate -- something Jets fans will appreciate. Round 1 - Pick 2 Miami (Fla.) • Jr • 6'3" / 275 lbs Projected Team New Orleans PROSPECT RNK 1st POSITION RNK 1st Bain is wrecking college football in a way that we don't see every year along […]
Related
NBA opening night best bets: Luka Dončić stars for LeBron-less Lakers; Thunder get past Kevin Durant, Rockets
The 2025-26 NBA season is officially at hand, and it's missing a key character. For the first time since the 2018-19 season, LeBron James is absent from the festivities. This is the first season opener he's ever missed, and his Lakers have been a fixture on opening night ever since their 2019 acquisition of Anthony Davis. He's not the only significant name we won't see on Tuesday. Obviously, the Houston Rockets will be without Fred VanVleet as he'll likely miss the season recovering from a torn ACL, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are missing key forward Jalen Williams. The season hasn't even begun and we're already missing several important players.Alas, we soldier on without them, as their teams now must. The Rockets, Thunder, Lakers and Warriors will tip off the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, even if they have to do so at […]
ITTF Under-19 Girls’ Doubles World Rankings: Syndrela-Divyanshi pair rises to World No. 1 position
View Comments New Delhi: Syndrela Das and Divyanshi Bhowmick have achieved a historic milestone by claiming the No. 1 position in the latest ITTF Under-19 Girls’ Doubles World Rankings, released on October 21, 2025. With 3910 points, the Indian duo leads the global standings ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Wu Jia-En and Wu Ying Syuan (3195) and France’s Leana Hochart and Nina Guo Zheng (3170). This marks a remarkable achievement for Indian table tennis, as six Indian girls have entered the world’s top 100 doubles pairs for the first time, reflecting the nation’s rapid progress in youth development. Syndrela and Divyanshi’s ascent to the top is the result of a string of strong performances at both domestic and international events. The pair has captured gold medals at the WTT Youth Contender in Goa and WTT Youth Star Contender in Tunis, in […]
Bottom 25 college football rankings: Florida State debuts after loss to Stanford, Penn State slips further
Penn State has some company in a miserable category this week, as the Nittany Lions are no longer the only former top-10 team ranked in the Bottom 25. Florida State is in the same boat after a 20-13 loss at Stanford marked its fourth straight defeat.The similarities between the programs are striking. Both were largely built by legendary multi-decade coaches in Joe Paterno at Penn State and Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Both schools were independent until finally joining conferences in the early 1990s, and both have gone through their ups and downs since those legendary coaches exited.But as the final college football Saturday of October approaches, the Nittany Lions and Seminoles vary in one particularly striking way. Penn State has fired its coach, and Florida State hasn't. When you consider that FSU is two seasons removed from its peak […]
Blue Jays advance to World Series on dramatic George Springer HR; NBA regular season tips off tonight
This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here. Happy Tuesday, sports fans. Brent Brookhouse here to guide you through all the news you need to know to get your day going, as well as preparing you for a massive day of sports action. Today, quite literally, your entire day can be spent watching sports, from the start of another week of UEFA Champions League action in the afternoon, to the start of the NBA regular season, and with a sprinkling of college football and NHL action. Is there anything better than a full day of sports as we head into the heart of the fall season? Let's jump into it. 🏈 Five things to […]
Cowboys’ Jerry Jones squashes idea that Micah Parsons’ agent interferes with George Pickens extension talks
Getty Images The discontent is well-documented between Jerry Jones and agent David Mulugheta, who represents former Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, but a contract extension for wide receiver George Pickens is independent of previous, unsuccessful negotiations with other players.Pickens, whom Mulugheta also represents, caught 36 passes for 607 and six touchdowns over seven games this season. Pickens will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.Jones previously said he had a "handshake" agreement on an extension for Parsons, but those terms were not vetted through Mulugheta in an official capacity. Jones never viewed Mulugheta as relevant to the negotiation process with Parsons' situation."Don't pay any attention to that," Jones said after Sunday's win over Washington of the Pickens-Mulugheta dynamic, via The Dallas Morning News. "At all. No attention to that at all. Too much was made of that, […]
Renner’s 2026 NFL mock draft 3.0: Jets and Raiders take QBs in top 5 amid stronger WR and defensive classes
Round 1 - Pick 1 Indiana • Jr • 6'5" / 225 lbs Projected Team N.Y. Jets PROSPECT RNK 3rd POSITION RNK 1st PAYDS 975 RUYDS 76 INTS 0 TDS 16 Mendoza hasn't been perfect, but he protects the football and has an NFL-ready skill set. He's logged only three turnover-worthy plays this season, per PFF, while maintaining a 9.2-yard average depth of target. That ability to push the ball downfield without recklessness is exactly what teams covet. Most notably, he's taken just six sacks all year and owns a low 10% pressure-to-sack conversion rate -- something Jets fans will appreciate. Round 1 - Pick 2 Miami (Fla.) • Jr • 6'3" / 275 lbs Projected Team New Orleans PROSPECT RNK 1st POSITION RNK 1st Bain is wrecking college football in a way that we don't see every year along […]
Be the first to leave a comment