Royals-Twins postponed by rain

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A cold, steady rain on Saturday kept Kansas City from trying to extend its three-game winning streak, but the Royals welcomed the day off to rest their exhausted bullpen.

The Royals' game against the last-place Minnesota Twins was postponed and scheduled to be made up as part of a split doubleheader on June 30. The Twins announced there would be a rain delay about a half hour before the first pitch. But with forecasts not showing much relief and most of the fans huddled in the concourses, officials decided to scrap the game altogether just after 2 p.m., an hour after its scheduled start.

That was just fine for Kansas City, which won its third straight game Friday night after losing 12 in a row.

"It actually helps the status of our bullpen," manager Ned Yost said before the game about the prospect of a rainout. "We're a little worn down right now."

Kansas City was scheduled to send Bruce Chen (0-2) against Minnesota's Jason Marquis (1-0).

The Twins have lost six straight and are in last place in the AL Central. Both pitchers will take the mound Sunday.

Earlier Saturday, the Royals recalled right-hander Nate Adcock from Triple-A Omaha and optioned Everett Teaford, the starter in Friday night's win, to the minors.

"Right now we need depth, we need protection," Yost said. "Teaford was our long guy, we didn't have any protection last night."

Friday night marked the Royals' first one-run win all season, with Jonathan Broxton striking out Twins stars Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to end the game.

"If Broxton would have given up the lead and we would've had a tie game, I didn't have any pitchers left, so we can't put ourselves in that position," Yost said.

Adcock, who spent all of 2011 on the major-league roster, was 3-1 in four starts for Omaha this season, compiling a 1.37 ERA. He had been scheduled to start Saturday before being told to head to Minneapolis.

"I haven't really gotten word of what exactly my role is going to be, but whatever it is I'll be ready," he said.

The upbeat Royals quickly streamed out of the visiting clubhouse soon after the game was postponed.

The Twins, meanwhile, were left to wait another day to try and snap out of their latest funk.

"We need to win some baseball games," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said earlier. "It's the atmosphere you worry about, guys keep taking a beating in there, they can get up so many times, but we need to win a game and shake hands. We need to have that feeling."

Minnesota hasn't had that feeling since April 20 against Tampa Bay. Since then, the team has scored only 23 runs.

Slugger Josh Willingham was back in the lineup after being reinstated from the paternity list following the birth of his son last week. Willingham leads the team with five home runs and 13 RBIs, and the team is hoping he can provide some sort of an offensive spark.

They'll have to wait at least one more day, though.

"No one's running away but we're running the other way," Gardenhire said of the division race. "We've got to do our part, to stay in it, we need to win some baseball games for the sanity out there."

Much like Kansas City has started to do.

"You've got to learn what it feels like when you get into it and you've got to understand what it feels like to get out of it," Yost said of dealing with early losing streaks. "With a club this young, we knew there would be some of those problems, but they're all good problems. You have to go through it, I would much rather go through it early than go through it late."

Notes: Chen makes his fifth start of the season Sunday, his 322nd major league appearance. Marquis meanwhile, makes his third start as a Twin. ... Twins LHP Francisco Liriano threw his final bullpen session before his next scheduled start on Tuesday. Liriano is 0-3 with an 11.02 ERA. He threw about 70 pitches and said he felt "way better."