74-62 this season

Why, WHY do the Royals have to be tough? Why can’t that team just roll over and go away? Why do they have to stand in the way of the first prize, the AL Central Crown? It’s no secret that the White Sox have not played them well this season. So far, they have only won four the the 12 matches this season. Any more losses and the Sox risk two straight seasons in a row that the Sox lose the season series. Tonight, Robin is sending out the following guys to prevent this from happening:

Alejandro De Aza CF, Jose Lopez 3B, Dewayne Wise LF, The King 1B, Alex Rios RF, AJ Pierzynski C, The Cuban Tank DH, The Cuban Missile SS, Bacon 2B. 

Francisco Liriano will start for the Sox tonight. Liriano is looking to bounce back from a miserable start last weekend where he gave up six unintentional walks and threw 100 pitches in four-plus innings against the Tigers. In all Liriano allowed three runs while striking out five.

He will also be looking to pick up his sixth win of the season. Against the Royals, he is 6-5 with a 4.21 ERA in 15 games, 12 of which were starts.

61-75 on the season

Ned Yost is sending out the following guys to be irritants to the Sox:

Lorenzo Cain CF, Alcides Escobar SS, Alex Gordon LF, Billy Butler DH, Salvador Perez C, Mike Moustakas 3B, Frenchy RF, Eric Hosmer 1B, Johnny Giavotella 2B.

Luis Mendoza will start for the Royals. YAY, another pitcher the Sox just can’t seem to completely figure out. He has faced them a total of eight times, six as a starter and he has a 4-3 record with a 4.11 ERA. Those four wins are also the most he has against any opponent. At the Cell, Luis is 2-2. The last time Luis faced the Sox, he picked up a win when he pitched seven innings allowing just four hits, two earned runs, one walk and had six strikeouts.

His last start was this past Sunday against the Twins. In that game he allowed a run on two hits before allowing a home run in the second inning. Mendoza exited in the fifth inning and left with a 4-2 lead. The Royals went on to win the game.

*Note: The last time the Sox had back-to-back losing season against the Royals was 1993-1994. One run wins are a way of life. The Royals are 23-19 in those kinds of game, giving them the second-most wins in one-run games in the AL This season.