First pitch: Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Line: Chicago +150, Kansas City -160, Total: 8.5

The White Sox will be looking to prevent a four-game losing streak when they face the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday.

Chicago has surprised a lot of people with some solid play to start the year, but the White Sox have now lost three straight games and will be hoping to get back on track with a victory over the Royals on Thursday. The White Sox most recently lost three of their four games against the Indians and it was the team’s offense that didn’t show up in that one. The White Sox averaged just 2.0 runs per game in their three losses and will need to hit a lot better against this Royals team on Thursday. Kansas City, however, is going to need some better pitching. The Royals just won two of three against the Twins, but they allowed four or more runs in each of those three contests. The starters in this game are set to be RHP Miguel Gonzalez (0-1, 4.57 ERA, 19 K) for the White Sox and LHP Danny Duffy (0-0, 2.13 ERA, 29 K) for the Royals. Chicago is 23-21 against the money line as a road underdog of +150 to +175 over the past three seasons. Kansas City is, however, 41-24 against the money line in home games with a hot bullpen whose ERA is under 3.00 the past 15 games over the past two seasons.

Miguel Gonzalez will be on the mound for Chicago on Thursday and the righty is coming off of a very solid outing against this Royals team on May 21. Gonzalez pitched 6.0 innings in that game and allowed just two earned runs on six hits. He struck out eight batters and didn’t issue a single walk either. If he can come through with another start like that one then the White Sox would be ecstatic. He did, however, allow three earned runs in just 4.2 innings of work the start before and he can’t be relied on to give the White Sox a quality start every night. Offensively, two guys to watch out for are 1B Jose Abreu (.258 BA, 6 HR, 27 RBI) and OF Austin Jackson (.241 BA, 0 HR, 16 RBI). Abreu is 7-for-19 with a homer and two RBI against Danny Duffy in his career and Jackson is an absurd 8-for-25 with a homer and four walks against the pitcher. Abreu will need to provide a spark for his team by adding some power in this game and Jackson will be doing his job if he can just reach base a few times. He has tremendous speed on the bases and that could come in handy for the White Sox in what might be a low scoring game.

Danny Duffy has pitched extremely well for the Royals this season, allowing just one earned run over the past 10 games. He will, however, be counted on to work a bit deeper into this game. The Royals are doing their best to stretch him out, but he threw just 63 pitches in his last game and the team could use some more out of him on Thursday. The bats to keep an eye on for Kansas City in this one are OF Lorenzo Cain (.291 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBI), OF Jarrod Dyson (.259 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and C Salvador Perez (.283 BA, 7 HR, 25 RBI). All three guys have had success against Gonzalez in the past, as Cain is 3-for-6 with a homer and an RBI against him, Dyson is 7-for-8 against him and Perez is 5-for-14 with a homer and two RBI in the matchup. It is, however, worth noting that 1B Eric Hosmer (.297 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI) is just 1-for-13 against Gonzalez in his career. He is the Royals’ best hitter, so it’s important that he can find a way to end his struggles against the White Sox pitcher on Thursday.