White Sox take on the Royals in division matchup
Kansas City Royals (18-36, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Chicago White Sox (25-29, third in the AL Central)
Chicago; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 2.92 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 17 strikeouts) White Sox: Reynaldo Lopez (3-5, 6.03 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 57 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: AL Central rivals Chicago and Kansas City will meet at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The White Sox are 12-12 against opponents from the AL Central. Chicago has a team on-base percentage of .310, last in the American League. Tim Anderson leads the lineup with a mark of .369.
The Royals are 7-12 against the rest of their division. The Kansas City pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.18, Jakob Junis paces the staff with a mark of 5.58. The White Sox won the last meeting 4-3. Lucas Giolito secured his seventh victory and Leury Garcia went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Chicago. Brad Keller took his sixth loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 27 extra base hits and is slugging .505. Charlie Tilson is 9-for-33 with a home run and five RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with 27 extra base hits and is batting .288. Adalberto Mondesi has 12 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
LAST 10 GAMES: White Sox: 4-6, .226 batting average, 4.77 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
Royals: 3-7, .231 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by nine runs
White Sox Injuries: Carlos Rodon: 10-day IL (elbow), Michael Kopech: 60-day IL (elbow), Nate Jones: 60-day IL (elbow), Ryan Burr: 10-day IL (elbow), Jon Jay: 60-day IL (hip), Leury Garcia: day-to-day (shoulder), Tim Anderson: day-to-day (wrist), Welington Castillo: 7-day IL (head).
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Lucas Duda: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).
