The AL Central's basement dwellers will keep beating each other up in this Wednesday night tilt. The Kansas City Royals had a lot of fun in Monday's series opener, winning 12-5. The second game took place on Tuesday night. If the Chicago White Sox, who were expected to compete for the AL Central crown, want to turn things around, they need to win this game. However, Kauffman Stadium hasn't been kind to them lately and may give them grief again in this game. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. EDT, in the penultimate game of this four-game set.
The line is moving.#WelcomeToTheCity pic.twitter.com/SKNKGHJdQ8
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 9, 2023
Through 37 games, the Chicago White Sox have had one three-game winning streak. They haven't won consecutive games at any other point this season. If you're looking for the reason that they're over 10 games below .500, that's a great place to start. Their team ERA of 5.70 after Monday, 29th in baseball, is another major culprit. Chicago's bullpen is one of the few that can contend with Oakland for the worst in baseball, and Liam Hendriks' absence while battling cancer hasn't helped. Lance Lynn has also been awful but can rectify that a bit in this game. Through seven starts, Lynn has a 6.86 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.525 WHIP, 10.3 H/9, and 2.1 HR/9. Along with his 158 ERA-, all of those numbers would represent career worsts over a full season. Lynn finished 2022 with a 2.84 ERA against the Royal s in three starts, even though Salvador Perez has a .304 average against him. There's hope that he can lead the White Sox to another win.
Part of that hinges on the White Sox's bats to show up too. Chicago is a modest 13th in runs per game this season. They're stealing 91.3% of bases successfully after Monday, having only been caught twice this season in 23 tries. The White Sox are also top-10 in doubles and middle-of-the-pack in home runs. They could work on drawing free passes though, as Chicago's walk rate is 27th in MLB. Their scoring isn't terrible, but it can't overcome their pitching at its current level.