With a 3-2 loss to the Royals on Thursday, the Twins fell to a disappointing 4-9 record. The bad news is obvious: the team isn’t clicking yet, and now they’re down their Opening Day starter due to injury.

Two weeks into the season, and the Twins were 4-8 entering Thursday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., and were slashing just .203/.327/.595 as a team for the season.

Houston quickly claimed the win in the 10th, first with Chas McCormick’s sacrifice bunt that moved courtesy runner Brendan Rodgers to third base. Louie Varland walked Jake Meyers, who immediately stole second base. Altuve followed with his second hit of the day, a solid single to right field that scored Rodgers.

The Minnesota Twins are facing off against the Houston Astros for Thursday's home opener in Minneapolis. Starting pitch is set for 3:10 p.m. at Target Field.

The Pohlad Family, who is going to sell the Twins, has given interested parties more time to get in offers, signaling they haven't seen the kind of deal they want yet.

They executed in the bigger situations more than what we did," Ryan Jeffers said after Thursday's loss, which dropped the Twins to 4-9.

Ideally, a nickname for an athletic team serves a dual purpose,” said William Boyer, team president for Minnesota's expansion football team.

Last season, Byron Buxton played 100 games for just the second time in his career. It was a monumental accomplishment for a guy whose single biggest knock during his 10-year MLB career has been health.