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Royals try to continue mastery of White Sox in Chicago

Jul 23, 2014 - 2:58 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - To maintain their recent road dominance of the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Royals turn to one of their most reliable commodities.

Workhorse starter James Shields can rack up a fourth straight win at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday afternoon, when the Royals visit the White Sox in the finale of a three-game series.

Kansas City has won three consecutive series on Chicago's home field and seven of the last eight.

Their win on Tuesday night was good enough to tie this series at a game apiece, account for their 11th win in the last 13 games against the White Sox in Chicago and revive a moribund offense after scoring just 17 runs in their last eight games.

Mike Moustakas had three of Kansas City's 14 hits.

"He's starting to swing the bat pretty good," manager Ned Yost said. "We've seen him in spurts, it doesn't matter who's pitching. When he's right, he's putting good swings on the ball."

Meanwhile, Chicago manager Robin Ventura once again cited all-around ineffectiveness.

"We didn't pitch well, we didn't field well, we didn't hit well, so your chances of extending a winning streak aren't going to happen, so you just have to be better than that," he said.

Shields was rattled for eight hits and four runs in his lone outing since the All-Star break and got a no-decision in the Royals' 5-4 loss at Boston on Friday.

"I didn't do my job of getting outs," Shields said.

His opposition batting average of .274 this season and an on-base percentage of .317 are far higher than his numbers in the last three seasons combined -- .236 and .292, respectively.

He allowed 10 hits in six innings of a 6-3 victory in Chicago on June 15 and is 3-2 in his last eight starts against the White Sox with a 2.21 earned run average since joining the Royals.

Chicago opposes him with lefty Jose Quintana, who got a no-decision on Friday after allowing three hits and two runs in five innings of a game the White Sox ultimately won, 3-2.

It was the first time in six starts that he'd not pitched seven innings, though he's still unbeaten -- 2-0 -- with a 1.77 ERA in that stretch.

The success hasn't been transferable to Kansas City, though. He's 0-5 in 10 games against the Royals with a 4.52 ERA. In two losses this season, his ERA is 6.08.

On Tuesday, Moustakas had two homers and three RBI to give Kansas City a much- needed 7-1 victory.

Moustakas highlighted a resurgent attack that featured multi-hit efforts from four others, including Raul Ibanez going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

"This one was an important one. It broke our little slump we were in," Moustakas said.

Bruce Chen (2-2) went the minimum five innings to earn the win, while three relievers behind him held Chicago scoreless over the final four frames.

Scott Carroll (4-6) matched Chen through five innings but imploded in the sixth. He was charged with five runs on 11 hits and a pair of walks.

"I just didn't feel like I had my best stuff," Carroll said.