Twins at Royals
Kansas City Royals left-hander Jason Vargas bids to become the American League's first 12-game winner on Friday as he carries a six-start winning streak into the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins. The 34-year-old has allowed just 10 runs during that stretch and sports a 6-1 mark with an AL-best 1.92 ERA at home this season.
"He's leading the league in wins and ERA. I don't see how he can't be (the starter in the All-Star Game)," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Vargas, who owns the longest winning streak by a Kansas City starter since Zack Greinke emerged victorious in nine straight starts spanning the 2008-09 seasons. Eric Hosmer enters the weekend series going 7-for-19 during his five-game hitting streak and is 8-for-26 with three homers and 11 RBIs in his career versus Friday starter Ervin Santana. While Kansas City has dropped three of its last four overall and seven of eight to Minnesota this season, the Twins have been outscored 20-10 en route to losing three of their last four. Joe Mauer collected his fifth multi-hit performance in eight outings in Thursday's 6-3 loss to Boston and is 14-for-36 with nine RBIs in his career versus Vargas.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Ervin Santana (10-4, 2.80 ERA) vs. Royals LH Jason Vargas (11-3, 2.29)
Santana struck out seven and worked around nine hits over six innings to record his second straight win on Sunday with a 4-0 victory at Cleveland. "He really cranked it up (his fastball) pretty good a couple of times. And he's able to maintain his poise in rough waters," manager Paul Molitor told reporters. The strong outing by the 34-year-old Dominican came on the heels of two sub-par performances, during which he surrendered four homers, 11 runs and 19 hits while splitting a pair of decisions.
Vargas overcame a pair of solo homers to work seven strong innings in a 3-2 victory over Toronto on Saturday. "The way he can command that changeup, it's a tough, tough pitch," Yost told reporters. "You see a lot of way out front swings on it. Very seldom will he make a mistake on it." Vargas sports a 6-4 mark with a 3.75 ERA in 17 career appearances versus Minnesota.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City CF Lorenzo Cain is 5-for-30 with six strikeouts versus Minnesota this season.
2. Twins 3B Miguel Sano will participate in the Home Run Derby on July 10, the team announced on Thursday.
3. Royals LHP Foster Griffin, who was the 28th overall pick of the 2014 draft, has been selected to pitch for the United States team for the 2017 All-Star Futures Game.