Trevor May is thrilled to be the Minnesota Twins' starting pitcher in the team's home opener. He might not be as enthusiastic about the lineup he'll be facing.
The Kansas City Royals head to Minnesota Monday to begin a three-game series and their best start in 12 years has been paced by some impressive hitting and a flawless bullpen.
First-year Minnesota manager Paul Molitor and Torii Hunter, who spent 1997-2007 with the Twins and returned this offseason, will be sharing the moment with May.
"It will be a great day," Molitor said. "Obviously we're playing one game tomorrow, but it's the first time I'll have the opportunity in this role. My hometown. My home ballpark. It will be an emotional day. It will be a good day."
That'll require the Twins (1-5) to quiet the Royals (6-0), who are batting .327 and off to their best start since beginning the 2003 season 9-0.
Sunday's 9-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels included a 3-for-5 day from Alex Rios, who is hitting .360. That's just the start of it with Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez each hitting .417 and Kendrys Morales batting .400. Alcides Escobar is batting .375 and has hit safely in 15 straight games.
The bullpen hasn't compromised any of the leads that lineup has provided with 16 1/3 scoreless innings and a .118 opponent batting average.
"To start the year the way that we have is exciting and it's fun to see. You just keep it going for as long as you can," manager Ned Yost said. "Over the course of 162 games, it's hard to maintain over long stretches. But we're firing on all cylinders right now in all phases of our game."
May is replacing Ricky Nolasco in the rotation after the right-hander landed on the 15-day disabled list with elbow inflammation. The starting staff, which was the worst in baseball in 2014 with a 5.06 ERA, is showing no signs of improvement this year with a 6.61 ERA.
Last season, May began his big league career with a 3-6 record and 7.88 ERA in nine starts and a relief appearance. That included a 6-4 home loss to Kansas City on Aug. 18 in which he allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. It was his third game in the majors, which was a particularly rough stretch with 13 walks in nine innings. After that, the right-hander settled in some with his control at least and issued nine walks in his remaining 36 2/3 innings.
This spring, he was 0-1 with a 4.22 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in two starts and a relief appearance.
"My whole plan was just to be ready whenever I was needed and it just happened to be sooner rather than later, but I'm ready to go," May told MLB's official website.
He'll face Danny Duffy, whose season didn't get off to a strong start, but he has dominated Minnesota. The left-hander allowed five runs and eight hits in five-plus innings of Wednesday's 7-5 home win over the Chicago White Sox before leaving without a decision.
Over the past two seasons, Duffy is 3-0 with a 1.66 ERA in six starts and two relief appearances against the Twins. Against Duffy, Hunter (0 for 8), Joe Mauer (1 for 10), Trevor Plouffe (2 for 16) and Danny Santana (1 for 8 with four strikeouts) have all struggled.
Santana and Mauer both went 2 for 4 in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the White Sox, but the lineup as a whole continued to slump with seven hits and is batting .197.
The Twins swept a three-game set from the Royals in the clubs' first series a season ago. From there, Kansas City took 11 of 16 and won the remaining five series. Over the past two seasons, the Royals have held a 25-12 advantage.
