Jose Quintana (1-1, 8.40 ERA) and Danny Duffy (1-0, 5.51 ERA) are on the hill in the second of a four-game series between the Chicago White Sox (6-9) and the Kansas City Royals (12-4) at U.S. Cellular Field. The Royals won the last game 3-2 and Kansas City leads the series 1-0. Action begins at 8:10 p.m. ET on Friday, Apr. 24 and can be seen on WGN and FSN-KC.
Quintana is 0-6 with a 4.66 ERA in his appearances against the Royals, and goes up against a good Kansas City offense which is batting .301 this season. Jose Abreu (.305, 7 Rs, 5 HRs, 13 RBIs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one RBI. Against the White Sox, Duffy is 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 21 strikeouts. Lorenzo Cain (.375, 13 Rs, 2 HRs, 12 RBIs, 5 SBs) went 1 for 3 yesterday with one run.
Chicago is a narrow -112 favorite at home against Kansas City. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently eight runs. Though the White Sox have had a tough season in terms of their overall money line (-184), they have done fairly well as a favorite with a record of 3-1. Chicago is unbeaten as the favorite and has a 6-4 SU record in its last ten outings.
In the other locker room, Kansas City has a perfect record of 5-0 when playing as the underdog and an overall money line of +646. They played solid baseball as the underdog over their last 10 games with a 3-0 record, and a 6-4 record SU. The Royals capitalize on their at-bats at a high percentage, leading the league with a .301 team batting average. The Royals are an excellent base stealing team with 15 stolen bases, ranking fourth in the MLB. Moving on to Kansas City’s pitching staff and defense, the The Royals allow just 3.3 runs per game, ranking them first in the AL. When it comes to preventing batters from getting on base, the Royals are the best in the league with a WHIP of 1.05 for the season.
The Royals have the edge in the season series, 4-0. Quintana (LHP) will be on the hill against the Royals, who have a 6-1 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
The Royals won their last game by a one-run margin. In games decided by one run, the White Sox are 2-2. The Royals are 2-0 in close games this season.
When the Royals play into extra innings, they have a 1-0 record. The White Sox are 0-1 when their games exceed nine innings.
The Royals managed to give up four walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the White Sox who are heading in with a 2-3 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they outhit their opponents, the White Sox are 6-1. The Royals have an 11-1 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 24th in runs, Chicago has earned 52 this season. Kansas City ranks fourth with 84 runs.
Ranking 28th, Chicago is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 33 this season. Kansas City ranks in the bottom half at 19th with 42.
The White Sox are 5-4 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Royals are 8-1 when they hit at least one homer.
