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FinalFinal lineupsAL Central

Kansas City Royals 2, Minnesota Twins 3

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

7:40 PM ET · Target FieldStats updated Jul 28, 7:45 PM ETFinal lineups locked
T-Score34
Kansas City Royals
65–82 · 5th AL Central · T-Score 34
2
2–3
FINAL
Minnesota Twins
69–77 · 3rd AL Central · T-Score 44
3
T-Score44
FINAL

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherTwinsMinnesota has the stronger starting-pitcher profile: Bradley leads in P-Score, WHIP and K/9.
Offense vs handTwinsMinnesota has produced the stronger offense against right-handed pitching.
LineupRoyalsKansas's official lineup includes 5 left-handed bats against the opposing starter.
BullpenEvenThe two bullpens have produced similar season ERA and WHIP.
Recent formRoyalsKansas has won 7 of its last 10 and owns the stronger recent run differential.

Starting pitchers

KC
Seth Lugo RHP
Seth Lugo
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
5.04
164th
WHIP
1.44
171st
K/9
6.74
185th
BB/9
2.89
90th
P-Score49i
FIP
4.16
HR/9
1.02
82nd
OPS/R
0.750
IP
159.0
2026 ERA splits
Home ERA4.07
Road ERA6.19
Last 5 starts
ERA
4.94
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
MIN
Taj Bradley RHP
Taj Bradley
Minnesota Twins
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.95
99th
WHIP
1.26
92nd
K/9
10.39
28th
BB/9
3.84
164th
P-Score65i
FIP
4.02
HR/9
1.30
139th
OPS/R
0.682
IP
159.1
2026 ERA splits
Home ERA3.30
Road ERA4.52
Last 5 starts
ERA
2.90
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
5
How the starters differ
·Bradley strikes out 3.7 more batters per nine innings.
·Bradley allows fewer baserunners, with a 1.26 WHIP compared with 1.44.
·Bradley enters with a 3.95 ERA compared with Lugo's 5.04.
·Lugo allows the lower home-run rate: 1.02 vs 1.30 per nine.
Advanced starter metricsERA−, FIP, WAR, career vs opponent
MetricLugoBradleyNote
ERA−11895Park- and league-adjusted; 100 is average.
FIP4.164.02
WAR2.02.1Season value.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Lugo arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sinker20%91.4
Cutter16%89.9
Four-seam16%91.7
Curveball15%77.2
Sweeper11%79.2
Slider9%84.3
Changeup9%85.0
Slow Curve2%69.2
Slurve1%77.3
Bradley arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam47%97.1
Cutter24%89.7
Splitter20%91.5
Curveball9%82.7

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Royals vs RHP (Taj Bradley)
13th
in MLB
0.725OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Twins vs RHP (Seth Lugo)
7th
in MLB
0.744OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page →
Kansas City RoyalsOfficial lineupvs RHP Taj Bradley
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Bradley (BvP)
1Carter JensenLC76.76123.805No MLB historyNo history
2Lane ThomasRLF62.70111.663No MLB historyNo history
3Jac CaglianoneLRF79.82523.864No MLB historyNo history
4Salvador PerezRDH57.65619.618No MLB historyNo history
5Vinnie PasquantinoL1B67.71411.776No MLB historyNo history
6Nick LoftinR3B55.7037.668No MLB historyNo history
7Michael MasseyL2B65.75211.721No MLB historyNo history
8Isaac CollinsSLF54.6596.687No MLB historyNo history
9Josh RojasL3B33.6212.605No MLB historyNo history
1Carter Jensen C · L.229 / .761 · 23 HRvs hand .805 · No MLB history · No history76H-Score2Lane Thomas LF · R.224 / .701 · 11 HRvs hand .663 · No MLB history · No history62H-Score3Jac Caglianone RF · L.283 / .825 · 23 HRvs hand .864 · No MLB history · No history79H-Score4Salvador Perez DH · R.228 / .656 · 19 HRvs hand .618 · No MLB history · No history57H-Score5Vinnie Pasquantino 1B · L.240 / .714 · 11 HRvs hand .776 · No MLB history · No history67H-Score6Nick Loftin 3B · R.235 / .703 · 7 HRvs hand .668 · No MLB history · No history55H-Score7Michael Massey 2B · L.278 / .752 · 11 HRvs hand .721 · No MLB history · No history65H-Score8Isaac Collins LF · S.221 / .659 · 6 HRvs hand .687 · No MLB history · No history54H-Score9Josh Rojas 3B · L.240 / .621 · 2 HRvs hand .605 · No MLB history · No history33H-Score
Minnesota TwinsOfficial lineupvs RHP Seth Lugo
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Lugo (BvP)
1Trevor LarnachLLF65.76912.797No MLB historyNo history
2Byron BuxtonRCF73.83025.864No MLB historyNo history
3Ryan JeffersRC83.87214.878No MLB historyNo history
4Kody ClemensL2B77.77726.806No MLB historyNo history
5Josh BellSDH73.74419.744No MLB historyNo history
6Victor CaratiniSC54.6407.673No MLB historyNo history
7Luke KeaschallR2B60.7579.781No MLB historyNo history
8Brooks LeeS3B63.73223.794No MLB historyNo history
9Ryan KreidlerRSS46.6476.696No MLB historyNo history
1Trevor Larnach LF · L.264 / .769 · 12 HRvs hand .797 · No MLB history · No history65H-Score2Byron Buxton CF · R.254 / .830 · 25 HRvs hand .864 · No MLB history · No history73H-Score3Ryan Jeffers C · R.270 / .872 · 14 HRvs hand .878 · No MLB history · No history83H-Score4Kody Clemens 2B · L.241 / .777 · 26 HRvs hand .806 · No MLB history · No history77H-Score5Josh Bell DH · S.256 / .744 · 19 HRvs hand .744 · No MLB history · No history73H-Score6Victor Caratini C · S.223 / .640 · 7 HRvs hand .673 · No MLB history · No history54H-Score7Luke Keaschall 2B · R.274 / .757 · 9 HRvs hand .781 · No MLB history · No history60H-Score8Brooks Lee 3B · S.248 / .732 · 23 HRvs hand .794 · No MLB history · No history63H-Score9Ryan Kreidler SS · R.218 / .647 · 6 HRvs hand .696 · No MLB history · No history46H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseKCKC·MINMIN
AVG.247 11th.245 14th
OPS.718 15th.726 9th
Home runs154 23rd172 13th
Runs629 21st675 8th
OBP.316 15th.319 10th
SLG.402 15th.407 8th
PitchingKCKC·MINMIN
1stMLB rank30th
ERA4.64vs4.67
KCMIN
WHIP1.39vs1.38
KCMIN
K/97.4vs8.6
KCMIN
HR Allowed179vs169
KCMIN
BullpenKCKC·MINMIN
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA4.61vs4.41
no league rank
Saves35vs40
KCMIN
ResultsKCKC·MINMIN
+10726th
Run differential
+16220th
65–82 Record69–77
7–3 Last 105–5
Last 10 games
Kansas City Royals (7–3)
W
W
L
L
W
W
W
L
W
W
Minnesota Twins (5–5)
W
W
L
W
W
L
L
L
L
W
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
7—6
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Royals?+
Seth Lugo (4.36 ERA, 4–6) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Twins?+
Taj Bradley (3.69 ERA, 9–4) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
7:40 PM ET at Target Field.
Where is the game being played?+
Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Royals and Twins performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Twins 6–7 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Seth Lugo is at 49; Taj Bradley is at 65. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.