White Sox take win streak to Kansas City

Baseball Betting Lines

07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox will be putting a season-high win streak on the line when the resurgent club heads to Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium tonight for the opener of a four-game series with the Royals.

Chicago comes in having won five straight games and 12 of its last 16 contests to creep back into the American League Central race, where the defending division champions now trail first-place Detroit by only three games. The White Sox have also been quite successful on the road as of late, with victories in 11 of their last 14 tilts as the visitor.

That tear began with a three-game sweep of the Royals from May 27-29 in Chicago's most recent visit to Kauffman Stadium.

The White Sox also posted a road sweep earlier this week, taking all three matchups with the wayward Cleveland Indians that culminated with Wednesday's 6-2 win at Progressive Field. Chicago scored four times in the sixth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of Ramon Castro, to back eight strong frames out of starting pitcher Jose Contreras.

Contreras (3-7) allowed only two runs on five hits and one walk to continue his in-season turnaround. Since returning from a stint in the minors on June 8, the veteran hurler has gone 3-2 with a 2.17 earned run average in five starts.

"He was real good tonight," said Indians manager Eric Wedge of Contreras.

Alexei Ramirez finished 3-for-4 with an RBI single for Chicago, while Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Gordon Beckham each had a pair of hits on the night. Ramirez did leave the game in the eighth inning due to an injury to his right middle finger, however, and is expected to sit out this evening.

The White Sox will send out their top winner in an attempt to extend their impressive streak, with Mark Buehrle slated to pitch tonight's opener. The quick-working lefty is 7-2 with a very solid 3.26 ERA so far this season, although he's recorded only one victory over his past seven starts.

Buehrle has hit a bit of a rough patch as of late, however, as he's surrendered five or more runs in four of his last five outings. In his most recent start, the steady veteran gave up five runs (3 earned) and lasted just 5 2/3 innings during a no-decision against the crosstown-rival Cubs.

The three-time All-Star will try to get back on track when he faces a Kansas City squad he's had plenty of previous success against. Buehrle is 19-8 with a 3.48 ERA over 40 lifetime matchups (38 starts) with the Royals, including a 9-6 mark in 19 Kauffman Stadium starts.

Buehrle got a no-decision in Kansas City back on May 30, a game in which he permitted three runs over 7 1/3 innings.

Bruce Chen gets the call for the Royals this evening and will go in search for his first win in the majors in nearly four years. The journeyman left-hander was called up from Triple-A Omaha last week to replace the struggling Kyle Davies in the team's rotation.

Chen made his Kansas City debut this past Saturday in Pittsburgh and was reached for four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings of a 6-2 Royals loss.

The 32-year-old Panamanian, who is pitching for his 10th team in a sporadic 11-year career, has lost eight consecutive decisions since his last big-league win, which came on October 2, 2005 while with Baltimore.

Chen has faced the White Sox six times previously, twice in a starting role, and is 0-1 with a 5.66 ERA against Chicago.

The slumping Royals lost for the 10th time in 14 games with Wednesday's 5-1 setback at home to fellow AL Central member Minnesota. Kansas City fell despite compiling 12 hits on the afternoon, the team's most while scoring under two runs since August 29, 1996.

Billy Butler finished 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles in a losing cause, while Jose Guillen knocked in the Royals' only run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Kansas City starter Gil Meche (4-8) yielded three runs -- two earned -- and struck out five over a solid six innings, but still suffered his third consecutive losing start.

These AL Central foes have split eight meetings so far in 2009, with the White Sox having won three of the five matchups held in Kansas City.