Kick in the rear: White Sox try to keep offense going versus Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

06/04/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox answered manager Ozzie Guillen's call for better offensive production in Tuesday's victory over the Kansas City Royals. We'll see if the current American League Central leaders can continue the heavy hitting when these two divisional foes resume a three-game series tonight at U.S. Cellular Field.

Just two days after Guillen lashed into a profanity-laced tirade about his team's offense following a 4-3, 10-inning loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday, the White Sox responded by belting four home runs in a 9-6 triumph over the Royals.

A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez both went deep in the win, while both Chicago players ended 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Carlos Quentin added a two-run shot for the White Sox, the outfielder's 15th homer of the season.

The power display was more than enough for Gavin Floyd (6-3), who allowed four runs -- two earned -- on six hits over the first seven innings to help Chicago end a three-game losing streak.

All four homers came off Royals starter Zack Greinke (5-3), who was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in a forgettable six-inning stint.

Mark Teahen had a two-run homer and David DeJesus ended 3-for-4 with an RBI single for Kansas City, losers of 13 of its last 15 contests.

Chicago enters tonight's tilt with a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central standings. Part of the reason for the White Sox' surprising success has been the performance of this evening's scheduled starter, John Danks.

After going 6-13 with a 5.50 earned run average during a rough rookie season last year, Danks appears to have made great strides in his sophomore campaign. The young lefty ranks among the AL leaders with a 2.86 ERA and has yielded two runs or less in nine of his 11 starts this season.

Danks put together a very impressive showing to beat Tampa Bay on Thursday, as the 23-year-old matched a career high with eight strikeouts and limited the Rays to one run over six innings.

He faced the Royals once as a rookie and pitched very well in a no-decision at Kauffman Stadium on June 30, 2007. In that game Danks threw eight innings and gave up only one run on four hits.

Luke Hochevar gets the call tonight for Kansas City and hopes to break out of a recent slump. The rookie has lost three consecutive starts and has produced an ugly 6.75 ERA over that span, having allowed 17 runs (13 earned) and 13 walks in 17 1/3 innings.

Hochevar didn't have it again in Thursday's 5-1 defeat by Minnesota, as the right-hander was tagged for five runs and nine hits before being lifted after 5 1/3 innings.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2006 draft hurled 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his lone career appearance against Chicago, a relief outing last September. He is 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in four road starts this season.

Chicago has dominated the Royals at home in recent years, having amassed a 22-7 record as the host in this series since 2005. The White Sox took six of nine encounters with Kansas City in Chicago last season and went 12-6 overall against the Royals in 2007.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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