A recent slump by the White Sox has opened the door for their closest pursuers in the AL Central. The Royals look to gain some ground on the division leaders and improve on their abysmal road record when they visit the Windy City.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The great start to the season by the White Sox, though it still has them leading the AL Central, has hit a bump in the road. Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to the Astros in 11 innings was a season-high tying third straight. Since giving up a seven-run eighth to the Rangers last week, the Sox have gone 1-5 and are down 4.65 units on the moneyline in that span. Chicago is on a nice run playing above the total with the over going 9-2 in its last 11 games.
The Sox have also opened the door for the closest pursuers in the division. With one of them being the defending champion Royals, who climbed back to .500 with Tuesday’s 8-4 win over Boston. KC has stunk on the road this year winning just three of its last 15 away games and going 7-13 on the road overall.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
With starters Kris Medlen and Chris Young on the disabled list, the Royals will again turn to Danny Duffy (0-0, 2.57 ERA) for a spot start. The lefty gave up one hit in three scoreless innings against Atlanta on Saturday while working on a 45-pitch limit. He fanned five with two walks and departed after 48 pitches in his first start of the year.
Duffy has pitched well holding opponents scoreless in 10 of his last 11 outings covering 13.2 innings. The previous 10 appearances were all in relief. According to manager Ned Yost, Duffy’s pitch count will increase to 60 for Saturday’s start.
Miguel Gonzalez (0-0, 5.17 ERA) lasted just 4.2 innings Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits with five walks. He came away with a no-decision in a 7-5 loss to the Yankees. The White Sox won his first two starts and Gonzalez exited Sunday’s game with a lead. Still, he needs to have better control than the five-walk effort against the Yankees.
Gonzalez has now walked 10 in 15.2 innings over his three starts. While GM Rick Hahn indicated Gonzalez would get a few starts to establish himself as the team’s No. 5 starter, a 5.17 ERA and 1.85 WHIP aren’t going to earn him much job security. He’ll try to win for the first time in 11 starts.
LIVE BETTING
Paulo Orlando continues to make the case that he could be the Royals everyday right fielder. But for now, manager Ned Yost said he will go with the hot bat. And that stick is in the hands of Orlando, who singled, tripled and homered in KC’s 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. “We’ve been looking for someone to get hot,” Yost said of the battle between righty Orlando and left-hand hitting Jarrod Dyson.
Orlando started the last four games including Tuesday’s, and has six hits in 15 at-bats with a double, triple, homer and four RBIs. His .400 average over that span lifted his season mark to .333 while hitting safely in four of five games.
QUICK PICK
The Sox were bound to regress a little bit after their torrid start, and we’re starting to see it. How the baseball team responds while facing adversity for the first time will tell us a lot about the makeup of this club. This spot in the rotation has been a black hole for the Sox, who earlier released veteran John Danks and gave Erik Johnson one shot before turning to Gonzalez. The three have combined to give up 55 hits and 24 walks in 43.0 innings with a 6.49 ERA.
The Royals have a fine opportunity to take advantage of the pitching mismatch and could have Mike Moustakas back in the lineup. He started some rehab work in the minors this week and there’s a chance he’s activated for this game. He will help KC’s offensive attack.
MLB Odds: Kansas City 6, Chicago 3
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