Game Time:  8:10 pm ET, Friday, September 3rd, 2021

Venue:  Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Missouri

Where to Watch:  NBCSH, Bally Sports Kansas City

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds: White Sox -220, Royals +180; Over/Under:  9.5 runs

 

White Sox:  78-56, 1st place AL Central

Royals:  59-73, 4th place, AL Central

 

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The White Sox are 6-4 over their last ten games.  Logging 5 Overs and 5 Unders. They are on a three game streak going into Thursday night’s game (night before our bet).  They went 0-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays( a missed opportunity in a four-game series of home games), 2-1 against city rivals Chicago Cubs, and 2-0 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They will be the winners of the American League Central… of course that is not a hard contest to win.  The AL Central is weak and soft.  It’s loaded with teams who won’t sniff the playoffs in the next 5 years.  If the White Sox want more they have to start defending Guaranteed Rate Field better than in recent days.

 

The Royals are worse than league average in the standings.  They’ve gone 5-5 over their last ten games.  Notching 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  They have been a wheel spinning in the mud neither gaining traction or sliding off the road. In their last outing the Cleveland Indians beat them 5-3 and they logged an Under which was set at 9 points.  

The White Sox are 5th in batting average .254, 5th in runs scored 674, and 7th in BB.  That’s right 7th in walks.  Getting on base has its rewards… mostly rewarding in the win column.  The batters for the White Sox deliver time and again.  If you can top five in multiple categories in major league baseball the win column will reflect that.  

 

The Royals are 9th in batting average .244, but only 24th in runs scored 546.  That is probably because they are LAST, 30th, in BB.  Only 342 walks in the season?  Did no one in Kansas City listen to Jonah Hill and his redundant explanation to Brad Pitt that WALKS are AS GOOD as HITS?!!… BECAUSE the ultimate goal is runs scored and we don’t care where they come from!!! Lay off the fastball gentlemen… let the pitches come to you.

 

The White Sox will put lefty Dallas Keuchel on the mound 8-7, 5.00 ERA, 83 strikeouts in 136 innings pitched.  Dallas’s career numbers of 98-80 3.72 ERA look better but the 33 year old has spent some time working his way back from injuries.  He only pitched 63 innings in 2020, a career low.  Over his last 7 games he is 1-4 with a 7.34.  The conundrum for Chicago is how many innings do you let him go before turning it over to the bullpen.  Dallas is still dangerous and talented so you do let him try.

The Royals will be starting TBD.  The very non-dangerous TBD.  Basically the Royals are sending out young guys and testing them.  They will decide who goes based on who is ready.  I have unofficially checked (meaning it’s anecdotal and not necessarily a stat) and among my peer group of gamblers and statheads  we can’t remember TBD winning as often as it loses.  In fact TBD has lost in my last 4 articles containing a TBD pitcher (again not an official stat, just an observation.).

 

Our Prediction for White Sox Vs Royals Friday, Sept 3rd is   White Sox 5  - Royals 3

 

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The Royals are 32-33 on the moneyline at Home.

The Royals recorded 30-31-4 O/U at home.

The White Sox are 32-32 on the Moneyline on the road.

The White Sox recorded 33-29-2 O/U on the road.

The Royals are not a strong team period… but the White Sox are a coinflip on the road.  

 

White Sox:

Craig Kimbrel  RP  (unspecified) Out, Tim Anderson SS (10Day) Out, Adam Engel (10Day) Out

Royals: Jacob Junis SP (10Day) Out, Ronald Bolanos RP (60Day) Out

 

The White Sox missing Tim Anderson is a big hole in their lineup.  It would tip the scales against the Braves, Astros, Rays, etc… but against the Royals it’s just next man up.

 

White Sox:  Jose Abreu 28 home runs and 102 RBI’s on the season.  With Tim Anderson hitting the 10 Day IL and missing the next several games,  Jose will move up in the line-up  and will have to find more homers than strikeouts. The White Sox odds dip when Tim Anderson misses games but not by much when the other team is the Royals.

 

Royals:  Whit Merrifield.  The 32 year old right fielder has 7 hits, 2 RBIs, 5 runs and 5 walks in the last 7 days.  That puts him on a bit of a roll, plus his BA and OBP go up a little bit at home.  

 

 

"I knew I could compete at the big league level and ran with that," -White Sox rookie Gavin Sheets who had 2 home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates to secure the 6-3 win.  He was called up from triple A just before the game.  Must feel nice!

 

"We like where we are right there,....You can't keep asking the exact same guy (Salvador Perez) to come through every single time. He's been ridiculously consistent and off-the-charts good in those situations... We let it slip through our hands." -Royals manager Mike Methany

 

White Sox

L. Robert, CF

Y. Moncada, 3B

J. Abreu, 1B

E. Jimenez, LF

Y. Grandal, C

B. Goodwin, RF

L. Garcia, SS

G. Sheets, DH

C. Hernandez, 2B

C. Rodon, SP

 

Royals

W. Merrifield, 2B

N. Lopez, SS

S. Perez, C

A. Benintendi, LF

C. Santana, DH

M. Taylor, CF

E. Olivares, RF

H. Dozier, 1B

E. Rivera, 3B

M. Minor, SP

 

White Sox:

Batting Average:  Tim Anderson (.302)

Hits:  Tim Anderson (140)

Home Runs:  J. Abreu (28)

RBI: J Abreu (102)

Stolen Bases:  Tim Anderson (17)

Wins:  D Cease (11)

Saves:  L Hendriks (31)

ERA:  L Lynn (2.59)

 

Royals

Batting Average:  Nick Lopez (.292)

Hits:  W Merrifield (149)

Home Runs:  S Perez (38)

RBI:  S Perez (94)

Stolen Bases:  W Merrifield (38)

Wins: M.  Minor (8)

Saves:  S Barlow (10)

ERA:  M Minor (5.30)

 

Managers:

White Sox:  Tony LaRussa

Royals Mike Methany

 

Rainy.  Daytime high of 84* but 80% chance of rain.  Humidity 77% wind 10MPH. 

 If it gets rained out Kansas City has plenty of good BBQ joints.  Not as Good as Texas… but still not awful…. Not Carolina awful.