Twins vs Royals May 20, Predictions, Preview, Stream, Odds & Picks

Twins Looking for Wins to Extend AL Central Lead

The AL Central seems to still be up for grabs as the season is a quarter of the way complete, but the Minnesota Twins are currently holding a slim three-game lead over the rest of the division. They swing in to play the Kansas City Royals for an important three-game series. Any games within your division is important and the Twins could use the games against a struggling Royals team to extend their lead this weekend.

Let’s check the latest MLB picks, stats, injury reports, and MLB odds for Twins vs Royals. We’ve plenty of MLB predictions.

Twins Welcome Correa Back, Need a Hot Streak

The Minnesota Twins got shortstop Carlos Correa back from the injured list Wednesday in Oakland before a day off. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the 14-4 routing of the A’s. Correa brings some punch back to the top of the Twins lineup, the type they need to help continue their winning ways. Heading into Kansas City, they need to get on a hot streak against teams that are sub-.500.

The Twins are only 5-5 in their last 10 games, but they need to get on a hot streak to help their cause at the top of the AL Central. Luckily for them, the rest of the AL Central, especially the White Sox and Guardians, have been on a particularly pedestrian pace themselves. If the Twins can get hot right now, they have a good chance at extending their lead and give themselves some breathing room.

The Twins could use some more offensively powered games like they had on Wednesday against the A’s. Even though they are 22-16 on the season, they are only 16-22 against the runline, which means they have a lot of tough, close games and drop games that they should be winning. But the Twins have been the favorite in every game they have played this year.

Royals Trying To Hang Around

Even with a quarter of the season done, the Kansas City Royals are trying to hang around and keep pace, but find themselves in fourth place in the AL Central and seven and a half games out of first place. They are trying to groom their younger players for the future and may end up as sellers come the trade deadline. But don’t look for that young group of players to go anywhere.

If by July the Kansas City Royals haven’t managed to keep things relatively close, they could be shipping veteran players out. The Royals had their success a few years ago before returning back to their small market ways and molding home grown talent. They owe it to some of the veterans that have stuck it out in KC to ship them to a potential contender in hopes of another chance at a ring.

But for now, the Royals need to focus on getting better and winning games when they can. Welcoming the Twins to town, the Royals have the chance to play the role of spoiler and also gain ground on first place at the same time. If there were ever a time to turn things around for the better, this weekend would be the time to do it.

Twins vs Royals Head-to-Head

This will be the second three-games series of the season between the Twins and Royals. Kansas City surprisingly took two of the first three games in mid-April. All of the games were within two runs. But at the time, the twins were struggling. Now they have hit their stride better and look to come in with a totally different outlook.

Twins vs Royals Game Information

Game: Twins (22-16) vs Royals (14-23)
Location: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Day/Time: Friday, May 20, 8:10 p.m. ET
Twins vs Royals Live stream: MLB.tv