Royals vs White Sox: Gamethread 66

Must win game against the Southsiders

After a series win against the Cardinals in St. Louis, things were looking good for the Royals on their weeklong, six game road trip. Already 2-1 on the trip, a winning road trip felt guaranteed as they were on their way to the southside of Chicago to take on the worst team in the American League.

The offense was riding high after scoring 22 runs in three games in St. Louis. Well... The Royals promptly have lost the first two in Chicago and have hit three solo homers for their only runs of the series. They now find themselves only a game above .500 and needing a win today to just have a .500 road trip. The Royals are now 4-2 against the White Sox this season.

Kris Bubic was supposed to have his turn in the rotation today, but in St. Louis they announced that he was going to get skipped, to help keep his innings pitched low, as he is still coming off Tommy John and hasn’t thrown this many innings in a long time.

So, the Royals will have a struggling Michael Lorenzen starting today to try and avoid the sweep. After a pretty strong start to the season, the last three starts have been extremely tough for Lorenzen. In his last three starts he has thrown 12.1 innings, given up 25 hits, 16 runs (15 earned), 3 homers, 5 walks and just 9 strikeouts. Hopefully, the good Michael Lorenzen from the start of the year shows up today.

As for the guys behind him, Salvy after an 0-4 day, with 4 strikeouts, a couple coming in key situations will catch again today. I don’t know what else Freddy Fermin has to do to get more playing time. He played well on Thursday night. Nick Loftin is at third, the Royals are 5-2 in games he starts. Bobby Witt Jr. will DH, meaning Maikel Garcia will be at shortstop.

The White Sox split a 4-game series at home with the Tigers and have now won the first two against the Royals. They are going for their first sweep on the season. Right-handed pitcher Mike Vasil will be making the spot start.

Hopefully the Royals have a happy flight home as they prepare for a massive homestand starting on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. central time.