Kansas City @ Chicago preview
Guaranteed Rate Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 10, 2010 ) Kansas City 1, Chi. White Sox 5
The Chicago White Sox are on a roll and look to continue their surge into the All-Star break when they meet the Kansas City Royals on Sunday in the finale of a three-game series.
Chicago is one of the hottest teams in baseball, having won seven straight. In the midst of a 24-5 surge, the White Sox are just a half-game out of first place in the American League Central.
The White Sox have been getting it done with good pitching and some timely hitting. Gavin Floyd tossed 7 2/3 innings on Saturday, allowing one run and continuing a strong run by Chicago starters.
Mark Buehrle allowed six hits in seven scoreless innings in the series opener against the Royals on Friday, which came on the heels of a two-hit shutout by John Danks against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Thursday.
A different player has stepped up at the plate and provided just enough run support for Chicago’s starters. Carlos Quentin hit two home runs on Saturday and Gordon Beckham added another. On Friday, it was A.J. Pierzynski who carried the offense with a pair of home runs.
About the only thing not going right for the White Sox at the moment is the health, or lack thereof, of starter Jake Peavy.
The team learned that they will be without Peavy for the rest of the season after he suffered a detached right shoulder muscle in his start against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.
Peavy was 7-6 and had won three of his last four starts before the injury. Now it will be up to Daniel Hudson to replace the former Cy Young Award winner and keep the White Sox on track.
Hudson will be making his season debut for Chicago. He was 11-4 with a 3.47 ERA at Class AAA Charlotte this season.
Hudson will square off against Zack Greinke.
Greinke (5-8, 3.71 ERA) looked nothing like the 2009 AL Cy Young winner earlier in the season, but he has found his form of late. Greinke is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last five starts.
However, Greinke has never had that much success against the White Sox, especially on the road. He is 6-10 in 20 career starts against the White Sox and is 1-7 with an unsightly 7.15 ERA in eight starts at U.S. Cellular Field.