White Sox at Royals
The Chicago White Sox have had plenty of success at home lately, but wins have been hard to come by on the road. They will try to snap a five-game road slide when they begin a three-game series at the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
After polishing off a 7-1 homestand that includes a three-game sweep of the Royals, Chicago continued its road woes by dropping a pair at Washington this week, falling to 12-18 away from home. The White Sox will try to improve to 7-3 against Kansas City this season when it sends Ivan Nova to the mound in the opener opposite Homer Bailey for the hosts. The Royals began a nine-game homestand by dropping three straight to the Boston Red Sox, including Thursday's 7-5 setback. Jorge Soler, who is batting .300 with eight RBIs in nine games against Chicago this year, slugged his team-leading 16th homer and added an RBI double Thursday.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Chicago, FS Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Ivan Nova (3-5, 6.24 ERA) vs. Royals RH Homer Bailey (4-6, 6.05)
Nova posted an 8.42 ERA in April, a 5.08 mark in May and continued his upward trend with a solid outing to begin June, limiting Cleveland to three earned runs in seven innings. He preceded that start with five innings of one-run ball to help Chicago to a 2-1 win over Kansas City on May 27. The 32-year-old from the Dominican Republic made one previous start in Kauffman Stadium and gave up seven runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Bailey is 0-3 with a 9.64 ERA over his last four starts, the last three of which have been on the road. The best of the bunch came opposite Nova in Chicago last week, when the 33-year-old Bailey allowed a run and three hits in 4 1/3 frames. That was the only time Bailey has faced the White Sox.
WALK-OFFS
1. White Sox CF Leury Garcia is 13-for-32 with eight runs scored over his last eight games.
2. Royals 3B Chelsor Cuthbert is batting .375 with three home runs in six games since being recalled from the minors.
3. Four of Chicago's wins over Kansas City this season have come by one run.