KANSAS CITY ROYALS (150)
Thu Jun 5 ‘08 8:11p - Courtesy of Mike Rose
Looking to secure a win against their division rivals for the first time this season will be Gil Meche who enters tonights start a disappointing 3-7 with a 5.35 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. Kansas City is 4-8 in his 12 starts this season, but they’re 3-3 in his road starts where his ERA drops down to 3.58. Meche hasn’t been nearly as good as last season giving up 75 hits and 42 runs with a K/BB ratio of 54/25 in just under 71 total innings of work. He’s managed to avoid the blow-up of late giving up three earned runs or less in each of his L/4 starts, but his offense has given him no support evidenced by his 0-2 mark during that span. Against the White Sox, Meche is 6-2 in his career, and a solid 3-1 at US Cellular Field.

Chicago management must be thrilled with their decision to hold onto Jose Contreras after he struggled throughout his entire ’07 campaign. Many thought he had lost it, but Contreras comes into tonight’s start 5-3 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. Chicago’s won seven of his 11 starts on the year, but failed to do so in his last start at Tampa Bay that snapped a string of four straight winning starts. Jose has been nothing short of spectacular against Kansas City in his career going a 8-4 with a solid 3.41 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, but Chicago lost three of his four starts against the Royals last season.

Chicago has feasted upon divisional competition this season winning 16 of their 24 overall games (8-1 L/9), and they’re 19-11 against sub .500 teams on the year. Kansas City has been the whipping boy of the AL for a number of seasons now, and come into tonight’s confrontation with the White Sox a pathetic 10-26 the L/36 times they’ve squared off against a winning team. For some reason, Chicago is 3-9 the L/12 times Contreras has faced a losing team at home, which makes the Royals an attractive underdog in this spot considering Meche’s career success against the Palehose.