Twins' Pablo Lopez set to return in series opener vs. Royals

The Kansas City Royals haven't truly taken advantage of an extended homestand, but they could still conclude it on a strong note.

Looking to gain more ground in their push for an American League wild-card spot, the Royals open a three-game set against the lowly Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Kansas City (71-69) is two games out of the final wild-card position after losing two of three to both to the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels to begin the nine-game homestand. However, the Royals clubbed four solo homers to en route to comeback 4-3 victory on Thursday to avoid being swept by the Angels.

"Let's just turn the page and keep attacking," said Kansas City closer Carlos Estevez, who recorded his career-high 37th save. "We know that we got to keep winning games."

Kansas City has just five wins in the past 12 games and has totaled 14 runs -- while homering eight times -- in the past six contests. However, the Royals remain confident that the Thursday victory can open the door to a run of positive results.

"It's a new day, a new opportunity. We're in a good stretch here, gonna be playing some good ball," star Bobby Witt Jr., who hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning on Thursday, told FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City.

Witt is just 2-for-13 (.154) in four contests following an 18-game hitting streak. Meanwhile, teammate Salvador Perez is 4-for-32 (.125) in his past nine games, but he hit his 297th career homer on Thursday.

Kansas City's scheduled Friday starter, Michael Wacha (8-11, 3.52 ERA), was knocked out during a four-run fifth inning in a 5-0 loss to the Tigers on Sunday. He gave up four runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

The right-hander went 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his previous eight starts. However, he hasn't been nearly as effective vs. Minnesota this season, going 0-0 with a 5.23 ERA in two starts. In nine career starts against the Twins, he is 5-1 with a 3.48 ERA.

Kansas City and Minnesota have split their 10 games so far in 2025, but the Twins (62-78) long ago waved the white flag on their season. They gave up 33 runs this week while being swept by the AL-worst Chicago White Sox in a four-game series at Minneapolis.

Some good news for Minnesota is the return of star Pablo Lopez (5-3, 2.82 ERA), who was activated from the 60-day injured list to make the start on Friday.

The right-hander hasn't pitched on a major league mound since June 3 due to a strained right shoulder. He posted a 3.18 ERA and struck out 14 in 11 1/3 innings across three rehab outings for Triple-A Saint Paul the past two weeks.

Lopez is 5-1 with a 2.16 ERA in eight career starts when opposing the Royals. He yielded two runs -- one earned -- over 10 1/3 innings against Kansas City in two 2025 outings.

It's unclear if Lopez will be throwing to catcher Ryan Jeffers, who exited the Thursday game due to a head contusion after two foul balls struck him in the mask.

"Basically, we're just going to monitor him (Friday) when we get to the ballpark, run him through some sort of workout," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I don't know if it's a baseball workout or not, but we'll monitor him and evaluate him and see how he is. So overall, relatively positive, but we'll see how he is (Friday)."

Minnesota's Trevor Larnach is just 2-for-10 lifetime versus Wacha. However, he is 13-for-24 (.342) with five RBIs over the past six games.

--Field Level Media