Royals at White Sox
The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox do not have much to play for entering a three-game series in the Windy City on Tuesday, but there are several individual achievements in sight for players on both sides. The Royals boast a slugger in Jorge Soler, whose 41 home runs ranks second in the American League to Mike Trout (45), giving the team an outside chance of having its first home run champ.
Soler has gone deep five times in his last 10 games while Trout is hampered by a toe injury. The White Sox entered Monday with the AL's batting average leader in Tim Anderson (.334) and its top RBI man in Jose Abreu (112), with the latter going deep in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Anderson sat Sunday but will carry into the series an eight-game hitting streak, during which he is 16-for-37 with two homers and six doubles. The pitching matchup in the series opener features a pair of guys with identical 9-12 records, as Kansas City's Jakob Junis opposes Ivan Nova.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jakob Junis (9-12, 4.94 ERA) vs. White Sox RH Ivan Nova (9-12, 4.69)
Junis finished his first two seasons with exactly nine wins and will be trying to get to 10 for the first time. The 26-year-old picked up a victory with seven innings of four-run ball against Detroit his last time out. He struck out a career-high 10 in a dominant start against the White Sox at home July 15 and is 3-1 with a 4.58 ERA in six career matchups.
Nova will be making his 30th start for the third time in his 10-year career and looking to hit double digits in victories for the fifth time. He has followed up a personal five-game winning streak with three straight losses, giving up 11 earned runs in 14 innings during the skid. The 32-year-old has been pounded for 11 runs over 15 innings in three starts against the Royals this year.
WALK-OFFS
1. White Sox rookie INF Danny Mendick slugged his first career homer Sunday and is 5-for-13 over the past three contests.
2. Kansas City won six of seven before managing just four singles in a 9-0 loss at Miami on Sunday.
3. With a series win, the Royals would take the season series for the seventh time in the last nine years.