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Cubs shoot for series victory in Kansas City

Jun 25, 2011 - 2:53 PM (Sports Network) - The Chicago Cubs are on the verge of finally winning an interleague series and can accomplish the feat tonight against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

The Cubs, coming off a 6-4 win on Friday, have dropped their last six interleague series since taking two of three from Oakland on June 15-17 of last season. Also, they are looking for their first road series victory since sweeping a two-game set in Florida, May 18-19. The team's last road series win of three or more games was May 2-4 in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

Chicago put itself in position for a series win thanks to a costly ninth- inning error by Chris Getz to earn a tough 6-4 victory on Friday.

With runners on the corners and one down in the ninth, Kosuke Fukudome bounced a perfect double play ball to Getz, who, in his anticipation to turn two, failed to look the ball into his glove. Tony Campana crossed the plate, breaking a 4-4 tie, as the ball rolled into the outfield.

"I just missed it," said Getz. "I mean, there's really not much more to it."

Aaron Crow (2-1) allowed two runs -- one earned -- over two innings to suffer the loss for the Royals, who have dropped six straight and eight of their last nine.

Kansas City placed runners on second and third with two down in the ninth, but Carlos Marmol induced a groundout from Alex Gordon to earn his 16th save of the season.

After Getz's blunder, Starlin Castro followed with a single up the middle to score D.J. LeMahieu, sealing the final margin.

Carlos Zambrano, tonight's starter for the Cubs, got off to a rocky start in his last outing, Monday against the White Sox. After yielding three runs in the opening frame, the veteran right-hander settled down and didn't allow a run the rest of the way, going eight strong innings in a 6-3 Cubs victory.

Zambrano takes a 5-2 road record into tonight's game in Kansas City. This will be his first time facing the Royals. He's 7-4 with a 4.64 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) against the AL Central.

Danny Duffy gets the starting assignment tonight for the Royals. Left leg cramps limited the rookie southpaw to 3 2/3 innings in his last outing, on Sunday at St. Louis. He allowed six hits and a pair of runs while racking up a career-best nine strikeouts in a no-decision. The nine strikeouts were the most by a KC rookie since Runelvys Hernandez fanned the same amount in a seven-inning stint on July 20, 2002 versus Cleveland.

Prior to Sunday's game, the 22-year-old recorded his first major league victory, June 14 at Oakland. He has struggled at Kauffman Stadium, posting an 0-2 mark with a 6.92 ERA in three starts.

This is the first regular season meeting between these clubs in 10 years, when the Royals lost two of three at Wrigley Field in July, 2001. KC is 6-10 all- time against the Cubs.