Twins play on MLB Opening Day 2024. Here's what to know for the game.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Minnesota Twins are set to play on MLB Opening Day 2024, but fans will have to hit the road to watch their favorite team.
The Twins will take on the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday. This will be the second year in a row Minnesota plays in Kansas City on Opening Day. Last season, the Twins beat the Royals 2-0 as starting pitcher Pablo Lopez notched eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
When do the Twins play on Opening Day?
First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m.
After their Opening Day game, the Twins will finish their three-game series with the Royals with games on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Where do the Twins play on Opening Day?
The Royals will host the Twins at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Kauffman opened in 1973 and sits right next to Arrowhead Stadium, where the Kansas City Chiefs play. Its most striking feature is a crowned scoreboard that reigns over centerfield.
Tickets for Thursday's game are still available online.
Where did the Twins and Royals finish last season?
The Twins ended last season with an 87-75 record, good for first place in the AL Central. In the postseason, they won their first playoff series in two decades before losing to the Houston Astros in the Division Series.
The Royals, meanwhile, were dead last in the AL Central with a 56-106 record, tying the most losses in a season in franchise history.
Twins World Series odds
According to Caesar's, the Twins have +2000 odds to win the World Series this year, 11th best in MLB. That means if you bet $100 on the Twins to win it all and they do, you'd win $2,000. Should the Twins' stars manage to stay on the field, their roster boasts more talent than most in the MLB. But injuries, inexperience and turnover in the rotation could hamstring them.
In a panel of six CBS Sports experts, four picked the Twins to win their division. The other two predicted the Twins would finish second. None of the experts picked the Twins to win the AL Pennant or the World Series.
When is the Twins' home opener?
The Twins play their first home game of the season on April 4 at 3:10 p.m. when they host the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field.
At the home opener, the Twins will honor the three Burnsville first responders shot and killed during a standoff in February with a pregame ceremony. They'll also pay homage to Dick Bremer, their longtime announcer who recently left the booth, and Hall of Fame electee Joe Mauer.
In between their opening series and the home opener, the Twins will head to Milwaukee for a two-game series against the Brewers.
How to watch the Twins' Opening Day game
The Twins-Royals matchup will be broadcast on Bally Sports North and through the Bally Sports app with a subscription to a participating TV provider. Those outside of the Twins' home broadcast territory can watch on the MLB.TV app.
Opening Day stats and facts
Since Rocco Baldelli became manager in 2019, the Twins have gone 3-2 in their first game of the season, with wins against Cleveland (2019), the Chicago White Sox (2020) and the Royals (2023). They lost to the Brewers in 2021 and the Seattle Mariners the year after.
This will be just the seventh time the Twins have opened the season in March. It will mark the third-earliest start in franchise history.
It will be the sixth time they've opened the season against the Royals; they've gone 4-1 in the previous matchups.
Since the turn of the century, the Twins have played 15 of 24 openers on the road. This year will mark the 16th.