Gamethread: Royals at White Sox

Let’s just get this out of the way: last night’s 9-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals stunk.
It smelled. Smelled bad. Smelled really bad.

Tonight, the White Sox will try to stop the bleeding by sending Dallas Keuchel (7-4, 4.51 ERA) to the hill. If that makes you tug at your collar a little bit, you’re not alone. Keuchel has dropped his last two outings, including a lukewarm six-inning performance against the Royals on July 26. Still, there is room for some optimism: At least the White Sox won’t have to deal with Jorge Soler tonight. Soler, who was traded to the Atlanta Braves before the deadline, accounted for half of the Royals runs the last time they faced Kuechel.

The Royals will try to even out their season record against the White Sox by trotting out 24-year-old rookie lefthander Daniel Lynch (1-3, 6.95 ERA). There is room for even more optimism here. The last time Lynch faced the White Sox, he was straight up not having a good time. He lasted two-thirds of an inning and got absolutely lambasted for eight runs.

After being held to a lone run last night by the great and powerful Royals pitching staff, the White Sox offense could be hungry to give the fans at Guaranteed Rate Field a show.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. CT. You can watch all the action on NBC Sports Chicago’s telecast or listen on ESPN 1000.

Cinch it up, hunker down, and ... I don’t know, do whatever else you want. Let’s go get a win.