Chicago @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 13, 2012 ) Chi. White Sox 9, Kansas City 8

Kansas City expects to have Luke Hochevar at full strength after he left his July 5 start against Toronto with a sprained ankle. The Royals will be hoping that a healthy Hochevar can eat up some innings against Chicago on Saturday after each side used nine pitchers in Friday night’s 14-inning marathon. The White Sox prevailed 9-8 in the back-and-forth affair on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Youkilis. The newly acquired third baseman has at least one RBI in each of his last eight games.

The Royals, who own the worst home record in the American League at 14-24, are now 10 1/2 games off the pace in the American League Central. They have struggled to get quality pitching, and a young and potent offense has been missing out on some key opportunities — Kansas City left the bases loaded in the 11th inning of Friday’s loss, and baserunning gaffes led to two inning-ending double plays and a pickoff. First-place Chicago has been riding solid starting pitching from All-Stars Jake Peavy, who starts Saturday, and Chris Sale. White Sox DH Adam Dunn ranks among the major league leaders with 26 home runs.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), Fox Sports (Kansas City)

PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Jake Peavy (7-5, 2.85 ERA) vs. Royals RH Luke Hochevar (6-8, 5.14)

Peavy, who lost four consecutive starts in June despite solid numbers (30 IP, 9 ER, 4 BB, 29 K), regained his winning form on July 6 against Toronto, giving up just one run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings of work. He ranks among the AL’s top six in innings, complete games, ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts. Peavy is 4-4 with a 4.56 ERA in nine lifetime starts against the Royals.

Hochevar has been awful at times this season, but he has also shown flashes of brilliance, turning in three scoreless outings of seven or more innings. One of those came on May 12 in Chicago, where he yielded just three hits in seven innings of work. The top overall pick in the 2006 draft, Hochevar has pitched against the White Sox 11 times, going 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA.

WALK-OFFS

1. Kansas City DH Billy Butler has hammered Peavy, going 7-for-18 (.389) with three home runs and five runs batted in. RF Jeff Francoeur is 8-for-21 (.381) with a double.

2. Chicago reserve INF Orlando Hudson, batting just .195 this season, is 7-for-14 in his career against Hochevar. C A.J. Pierzynski and CF Alex Rios are a combined 5-for-39 against the Kansas City right-hander.

3. The White Sox have won eight of their last nine games against AL Central teams, while Kansas City has now dropped seven divisional games in a row.