Who said the Twins wouldn’t play meaningful games in September? If Minnesota wants to avoid finishing in last place in the AL Central, they have to beat the team in front of them: Kansas City. The Twins start a two game series against the Royals tonight in K.C.

The Twins are now three games behind the Royals in the battle for the basement after losing in Kansas City, 4-0 Tuesday night. In eight innings of work, Royals starter Bruce Chen shut down the Twins allowing only two hits, and he retired 24 of the final 26 batters he faced.

Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano will get a chance to improve his 2-7 record when he's back on the mound at Target Field Sunday afternoon. Minnesota is going for their third consecutive win over the Kansas City Royals after sweeping Saturday's doubleheader. Kansas City will try to split the four-game set with lefty Bruce Chen on the hill.

The Minnesota Twins and the Cincinnati Reds will meet for a rubber match Sunday afternoon to close out their three-game series. The AL-worst Twins can finish interleague play at the .500 mark by defeating the NL Central-leading Reds. Scott Diamond will take the mound for the Twins. Cincinnati will counter with Mike Leake -- facing the Twins for the first time.

The Twins continued sliding out of contention in the AL Central by losing, 4-3 to the Royals at Target Field Friday night. On Tuesday the Twins were only 7.5 games out of first place, but three straight losses have dropped them 11 games behind the division-leading White Sox.

The Twins and Royals make up Friday night's rainout in a double header Saturday. Pitching for Minnesota is 23-year-old rookie Liam Hendriks who's looking for his first MLB victory.

The Twins' three game winning streak came to a screeching halt last night as they were routed by the Royals, 9-to-1 at Target Field. Royals starter Will Smith shutout the Twins over the first seven innings. Minnesota didn’t score until the eighth inning when Ryan Doumit singled in a run.

The Twins took two from the Kansas City Royals Saturday in a doubleheader at Target Field. Solid pitching by Scott Diamond and a home run by Trevor Plouffe helped the Twins beat the Royals 7-2 in the daytime opener, while Cole De Vries scattered five hits over six innings and Josh Willingham hit a homer in the Twins' 5-1 win the nightcap.