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White Sox vie to bounce back vs. Royals

May 13, 2012 - 3:31 PM (Sports Network) - The Chicago White Sox look to rebound as they host the Kansas City Royals in the finale of a three-game series in the Windy City.

The White Sox won only seven of 18 versus the Royals last season, their worst record against the club since a 5-7 mark 12 years ago. The 11 losses were also the most they had against Kansas City since dropping 12 meetings to the franchise in 1973.

Luke Hochevar (3-3) hurt Chicago's success rate against the Royals by pitching seven scoreless innings to lead his team to a 5-0 road victory. Kansas City's offense was efficient as well as five different players had multiple hits en route to the victory.

The White Sox went into a hole early when their starter Chris Sale (3-2) gave up three runs in a 42-pitch opening frame. Sale recovered and lasted five innings, but none of Chicago's batters could erase the initial damage.

Philip Humber (1-2) will have the ball in his hand today for the ChiSox. The right-handed starter was shelled on Tuesday by Cleveland, as he gave up nine hits, eight earned runs, and walked two in just 2 1/3 innings. On the bright side, Humber was not mentally devastated by the poor outing.

"I did not feel like I had very good stuff at all. The ball wasn't coming out of my hand very good," Humber said after the loss. "Just for whatever reason, I didn't feel like I had very good stuff."I'm not getting down on myself, I know I have what it takes to pitch well. It's just a matter of time for it to happen."

One day after Adam Dunn hit a home run, doubled, drew a pair of walks, and ended a streak of 36 games with a strike out, the White Sox designated hitter went 0-for-4 and fanned twice. Alexei Ramirez went hitless for the second straight game in Saturday's loss.

Ramirez and Dunn will try to bounce back today against the Royals' Danny Duffy (2-2), who is coming off his shortest outing of the season. Duffy lasted 4 1/3 innings Tuesday versus Boston and gave up four runs and seven hits during his time on the mound. The Royals' starter escaped with a no-decision as his teammates rallied to erase the deficit.

"I thought it was the worst outing of my year," Duffy told the Royals' official website. "I don't feel like I commanded any of my pitches the way I should have, but that being said, my teammates had my back the whole time."

Designated hitter Billy Butler bounced back from a hitless Friday night with two hits and an RBI in the following day's winning effort.

The White Sox and Royals are in third and fourth place, respectively, in the American League Central Division, which currently has only one team with a winning record (Cleveland, 18-15).