Headlines of August 7, 2015 “White Sox turn to analytics to draft impact bats” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “As wild-card hopes fade, White Sox set to face first-place Royals” … Colleen Kane, “White Sox closer David Robertson also provides relief off the field” … Paul Skrbina, Chicago Tribune “Up next: White Sox at Royals” … Chicago Tribune “Adam Eaton stirring it up for White Sox offense” … Daryl Van Shouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Spiegel: Sox go modern in the front office” … Matt Spiegel, The Daily Herald “Carlos Sanchez showing more to his game than leather” … Doug Padilla, ESPNChicago.com “Tonight on CSN: White Sox look to take down AL-best Royals” … CSN Chicago “White Sox: to fill in for on broadcast over weekend” … CSN Chicago “Chicago at Kansas City” … CBSSports.com

White Sox turn to analytics to draft impact bats

Scott Merkin / MLB.com | August 6th, 2015

Where have all the elite home-grown hitters gone?

It's a question a number of teams around could ask, but in this case, it's a question for the White Sox to answer.

They are getting daily contributions from infielders Tyler Saladino and Carlos Sanchez, both products of their system, and the club feels that top prospect Tim Anderson, a shortstop, is close. But fans have to go back to the era of , Joe Crede and Carlos Lee to find the last time the White Sox had yearly production that they developed.

These impact hitters often come from the top of the Draft, where, for instance, Carlos Correa (No. 1 overall) was selected by Houston in 2012. When the White Sox drafted in the top five two years ago, they went for pitching, selecting Carlos Rodon at No. 3 with no regrets.

Occasionally a gem such as Mike Trout (25th in 2009 by the Angels) is taken late in -- or even past -- the first round. It's on the White Sox to do everything they can to find the best possible players, and that target potentially involves a greater use of analytics in the Draft process.

"We need to get the right guys," said Nick Hostetler, promoted this week to director of amateur scouting for the White Sox.

In that role, Hostetler will be running the club's Draft.

"That's where, for me, the analytics are going to come in," Hostetler said. "We go through all of these different dynamics of a player -- he's got five tools and this and that.

"Over time, you will see us kind of add some more guys with the ability to put the ball in play, showing that lower rate a little bit. The more balls in play, the more hits we are going to have. It sounds pretty elementary, but at the same time, sometimes we can get a little ahead of ourselves and try to make it bigger than it is."

General manager Rick Hahn points to the organization's admirable recent work done in selecting and developing young hitters after the first round. Micah Johnson was a ninth-round pick, Saladino and Trey Michalczewski were taken in the seventh round, and -- now with Oakland -- was selected in the sixth. Hahn also talked about using young players with another purpose, acquiring big league talent that can push the club toward a championship. Semien was part of the Jeff Samardzija trade, while outfielder Chris Young was the focal point of a 2005 deal with Arizona involving Javier Vazquez.

Ultimately, patience is a virtue in development. Hostetler mentioned that "quickest to the Majors" has replaced giving players the necessary Minor League at-bats to develop.

"If you can be patient with these guys and give them time, it's going to click," Hostetler said. "It's going to hit at some point. We are not going to be right all the time, but we can't be wrong all the time."

"Ideally, you are looking for a well-rounded baseball player who has the athleticism to do all sorts of things on the baseball field," Hahn said. "Not just premium athleticism, but guys who know how to play the game the right way and can produce both offensively and defensively because of their abilities. That's the model."

As wild-card hopes fade, White Sox set to face first-place Royals

Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune August 6, 2015

The last time the White Sox visited Kansas City they were full of expectations, built up only by how the team looked on paper and in , and they suffered a big letdown when they were swept the first three games of the season.

Four months later, expectations for the Sox have been revised in an up-and-down season, but the Royals still hold power to further the disappointment.

The Sox enter this weekend's three-game series 51-55. That's 11 1/2 games behind the Royals in the American League Central and 4 1/2 games out of the second AL wild-card spot, with six teams in front of them. The race is still a jumble, but with each loss, the Sox are slipping further away from playing meaningful baseball.

"Hopefully we can get on the good side of things and roll a little bit here," Sox center fielder Adam Eaton said. "I think the fan base would appreciate that."

Bumps in the road: After the Sox opted not to make any moves at the July 31 trade deadline, one of the biggest challenges to going on an August-September winning streak is the team is relying on several young players.

Among those is rookie left-hander Carlos Rodon, whose ERA hit 5.00 for the first time since April after allowed 19 earned runs over his last four starts.

"He has electric stuff, so he's going to develop into something special," Sox closer David Robertson said Wednesday. "These games like (his poor outing Wednesday) are going to build him up and get him ready for those years to come. We're hoping that every time he takes the ball he can give us that electric stuff like he did tonight. He has room to improve, but he has time to do it."

On one hand, Rodon is gaining valuable experience. On the other, his occasional blips could hurt the Sox at a critical time.

"It's the development, but we are here to win games too," Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "There are days it's going to be like this."

Some pop: Carlos Sanchez was another rookie who has taken his lumps, especially offensively. But he has started to come around, hitting .325 with six doubles and three home runs in the second half. He didn't homer before the All-Star break.

"He has some pop, but you just don't want him relying on it," Ventura said. "We know he has it in there, but first he had to go through the stretch of surviving. Now he's starting to get a little confidence going with it, and he's swinging the bat pretty good. He has been playing great."

White Sox closer David Robertson also provides relief off the field

Paul Skrbina, Chicago Tribune August 6, 2015

Picture of a rests prominently in another pitcher's locker inside the White Sox clubhouse at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I thought it was a cute, so I hung it up," reliever Zach Duke says with a chuckle of the Splash magazine cover on which his teammate, Sox closer David Robertson, is front and center.

Duke pauses to look at the headline: "Pitching in."

"I had him sign it too," Duke says.

The conversation veers toward "High Socks for Hope," a charity Robertson and his wife, Erin, started not long after tornadoes tore through his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2011, leaving in their wake devastation and disrepair.

I feel grateful for the money we get, and the smiles and the tears from the people we help. We're given so much as baseball players. It's only fair that we give back. - White Sox closer David Robertson Respect is the reason Robertson occupies a special place in Duke's stall, just to the right of a drawing of fish in the shape of a traced hand with the words "Happy Father's Day!" written just so in capital letters.

"You see it from time to time, guys going the extra mile to help someone out," Duke says. "It's refreshing to see guys who have the courage to step out and do it."

"It" is Robertson reaching out to tornado victims across the U.S. since his the EF-4 tornado hit home April 27, 2011. The monster stretched to 1.5 miles wide in Tuscaloosa, its nearly 200 mph winds snapping trees and reducing homes and lives to rubble. The storm killed more than 60 people and caused an estimated $2.4 billion in property damage.

Robertson was with the Yankees then, an All-Star in his fourth major-league season. He was 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 70 games that year. Pretty much untouchable and learning his way from a man he eventually would succeed at succeeding, Mariano Rivera.

He struck out 100 batters in 662/3 innings, giving up 40 hits and 35 walks. Two years earlier, in 2009, he won a with the Yankees.

Life, he said — and it was evident — was pretty good.

Robertson knew many of those displaced. Claimed in the wreckage were some of his father's businesses and a huge strip of 15th Street, near where Robertson grew up. It ripped apart the football stadium press box at Central High School, which hung over the left-field fence of the baseball field where he pitched for three seasons.

"You see houses leveled, nothing is there but the foundation," Robertson says. "Cars are sitting in lakes. It looked like a bomb went off. And it keeps going for miles and miles and miles and miles."

Almost 81 miles, all the way to Birmingham, where Robertson was born.

"It was just weird and eerie going back," he says. "'Hey, where's Full Moon Barbecue? Where's P&P Produce?' It's just gone."

Robertson vowed to donate $100 for every strikeout he had that season, which eventually totaled $10,000.

"We noticed one of the bigger things was families needed furniture. Kids didn't have any toys," Robertson says. "Whenever someone got a new house, we tried to furnish it for them. Anything to get back to that everyday routine."

High Socks has expanded to help homeless veterans and those natural disasters affected in New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. Volunteers from the organization recently began attempting the task of building a house in a week and assisting others in Fairdale, Ill., a small town southeast of Rockford, that a tornado hit in April.

He was a place-kicker during his senior season Paul W. Bryant High, named for the legendary Alabama football coach who won six national championships. The school's on a street — Mary Harmon Bryant Drive — named for the football coach's wife.

Robertson said he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, that baseball "fell into my lap."

"It's a football town. (But) football isn't really my sport," he says, adding that he can't throw one well. "No one else wanted the job, so I took it."

Not until he was in college at Alabama, which recruited him as a /shortstop/pitcher, did he become a closer.

During his freshman season he says he was asked whether he would like to pitch.

He appeared in 32 games that year, going 7-5 with eight saves, and Baseball America named him a Freshman All- America. He helped the Crimson Tide to a Southeastern Conference championship during his sophomore season when he saved 10 games.

The Yankees picked him in the 17th round of the 2006 draft. By 2008 he on the big-league team and eventually became Rivera's setup man.

"He's the best of all time," Robertson said. "He took care of me, treated me nicely. Being around Derek (Jeter) and Mariano is something I cherish."

Much like the lot his parents own on Lake Tuscaloosa. Robertson doesn't get back home much these days, maybe once or twice a year. But when he does, he spends a lot of that time swimming, cooking out and fishing on the "little bass boat that runs sometimes, if I remember to charge the battery and put gas in it."

Robertson left the Yankees after seven seasons, opting to sign as a free agent with the White Sox for four years and $46 million.

"He has been as good as advertised," Sox manager Robin Ventura says.

After two perfect innings gained him the 6-5 victory over the Rays on Wednesday, the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder has a 5-3 record and 22 saves with a 2.66 ERA and 63 in 44 innings.

Robertson's just grateful for the opportunity to help his team and people in need.

"I feel grateful for the money we get, and the smiles and the tears from the people we help," he said. "We're given so much as players. It's only fair we give back to the community."

The man who has averaged more than 1.3 strikeouts per inning his entire career simply isn't afraid — of opposing hitters or to ask for help.

Robertson hits up teammates once in a while for donations to his charity (highsocksforhope.org).

"He's not overbearing with it," Duke says. "He has a good feel for how far is too far to push somebody. He's a pleasure to be around."

So says the pitcher with the picture of the pitcher.

Up next: White Sox at Royals

Chicago Tribune August 6, 2015

Season series: Royals 7-3.

Friday: 7:10 p.m., CSN.

LH (6-8, 4.80) vs. RH Edinson Volquez (10-6, 3.20).

Saturday: 6:10 p.m., CSN.

RH Jeff Samardzija (8-6, 4.35) vs. RH Jeremy Guthrie (7-7, 5.65).

Sunday: 1:10 p.m., WGN-9.

LH Jose Quintana (6-9, 3.50) vs. LH (5-5, 4.04).

Who's hot: Adam Eaton has reached base in 18 of his last 19 games, with 20 runs scored. Jose Abreu is 7-for-24 with two doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs in his last seven games. Ben Zobrist was 7-for-23 with a double, three home runs and seven RBIs in his last six games entering Thursday. Volquez has given up more than two earned runs in a start just once in six outings since July 1.

Who's not: Zach Duke has given up five earned runs on five hits over 52/3 innings in his last seven appearances. Samardzija allowed nine earned runs on eight hits in 42/3 innings in his last outing against the Yankees. Guthrie allowed 11 earned runs on 21 hits over his last two starts. Mike Moustakas was 2-for-17 with no RBIs and four strikeouts over his last five games entering Thursday.

Adam Eaton stirring it up for White Sox offense

Daryl Van Shouwen, Chicago Sun-Times August 6, 2015

Adam Eaton’s 2015 season could be compartmentalized in three segments: The contract, the T-shirts and the comeback.

The contract got in his head, the T-shirts got his goat and the comeback got the White Sox’ offense to show a pulse.

In his second season as the Sox’ center fielder, Eaton has his batting average up to .269 and his on-base to .346. The 5- 8, 185-pound leadoff man has hit for some pop, too, yanking eight home runs and chalking up eight triples and 18 doubles to boost his slugging percentage to .422. It’s been a welcome bounce-back for the Sox, who sputtered offensively while Eaton was hitting .192 with a .241 on-base percentage in April.

“I’m the straw that stirs the drink,’’ Eaton said back then, beating himself up for not being the table setter he had been paid handsomely for when the Sox presented him with a five-year, $23.5 million contract extension (with club options for 2020 and 2021) when he would have playing for the first of his three arbitration-eligible contracts.

Teammates Gordon Beckham and Tyler Flowers heard the comment and schemed to have T-shirts made featuring Eaton’s quote and a sketch of his face with a straw in a martini glass.

Eaton wore it for a short while, and says now the zing from that zinger quickly wore off.

“It was just having fun,’’ Eaton said. “It’s all in good fun. Beck is one of my good friends — and Flow — they were the culprits. They heard it in the interview and thought it would make a good T-shirt. What I said wasn’t negative. I [ital.] want [end ital.] to start things off on the right foot, and being a leadoff hitter you want to set the tone. I had a walk (in a five-run first inning Wedensday) and things started going.

“When I’m struggling I’m not getting anything going. That’s kind of why the offense struggles.’’

The Sox, averaging 3.7 runs per game (29th in the majors), are averaging 6.1 runs over the last 14 games. Eaton is hitting .400 during that stretch and has reached base in 19 of his last 20 games with 22 runs scored. He ranks in the top two in the AL in average and runs scored after the All-Star break.

Acquired from the Diamondbacks two off-seasons ago in a three-team trade that sent left-hander Hector Santiago (a 2015 All-Star) to the Angels, Eaton received his extension during spring training this year and his performance suffered almost immediately in Cactus League games, and it carried over into the regular season.

Eaton points out that he struggled during May of last season (when injuries limited him to 15 games) but “the difference in the second year was I just signed a contract and that weighed on my mind a little bit.’’

“When you sign a contract, for me, you’re supposed to get a hit every time and bat a thousand. You get all this money and you should hit a thousand. It’s just not realistic. It took me a while to figure that out and be loose and play the game.’’

The Sox clubhouse lends itself to playing loose, Eaton said.

“Everything in this clubhouse is all good fun,’’ he said. “You’ve heard the clubhouse banter in here. You hear guys from across the room. You can’t take things personally.’’

WHITE SOX AT ROYALS

Friday: 7:10 p.m., CSN, 670-AM, 1200-AM

John Danks (6-8, 4.80) vs. Edinson Volquez (10-6, 3.20)

Saturday: 6:10 p.m., CSN, 670-AM, 1200-AM

Jeff Samardzija (8-6, 4.35) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (7-7, 5.65)

Sunday: 1:10 p.m., Ch. 9, 670-AM, 1200-AM

Jose Quintana (6-9, 3.50) vs. Danny Duffy (5-5, 4.04)

Spiegel: Sox go modern in the front office

Matt Spiegel, The Daily Herald August 6, 2015

The ' front-office infrastructure has been desperately in need of reformation for years. Rick Hahn took a further step in that direction this week.

Promoted upward (with final say removed) was Doug Laumann, now a Senior Advisor to Scouting Operations. His successor as scouting director is Nick Hostetler.

Hostetler's roots are in the Braves organization, where he learned the methodology that built a 90s juggernaut. While there he also worked closely with Dayton Moore, now the man in charge of the .

The blog Future Sox got some good stuff from the new guy in charge of stocking the system.

Hostetler values analytics, especially when they prove something that had been just a hunch. "I believe we should incorporate them more and more with what our eyes see." While of course valuing the "best player available," he admits a past proclivity for high school players, an area where the Sox have not had success. He uses social media discreetly to keep up with college rotations, and to check out potential personality issues of prospective picks.

I've been clamoring for the Sox to steal good young minds from other organizations. Hostetler appears to be an inside promotion who has learned valuable lessons from the outside.

Here's hoping Hahn keeps turning that front office over, as much as he's allowed.

On the show this week, we discussed the possible landing spots for exiting Tigers' baseball president Dave Dombrowski, and the Sox of course came up. The idea was rightly dismissed as simply not plausible. That's Kenny Williams' job. Plus, after years of an open Detroit checkbook it's hard to imagine Dombrowski not taking more cash-rich opportunities like Toronto, Anaheim, or Boston.

In sharing Dombrowski's local past, White Sox fans of a certain age were horrified to find out just how damaging Hawk Harrelson's one year tenure as a Sox executive was.

Born in Oak Lawn, Dombrowski was a student at Western Michigan University when he cold-called then Sox GM Roland Hemond in 1977.

Dombrowski got some answers for a class paper, and then decided to chase his dream of working in the game. Following Hemond's suggestion, he showed up on his own dime to the Winter Meetings in Honolulu in 1978, and then badgered Hemond into a low-paying assistant role.

By 1985, when Hawk took over as vice president of baseball operations, Dombrowski had risen to become the assistant GM.

Hemond had his power reduced, and soon left to work for the league commissioner's office. In June of '86, Hawk fired Dombrowski over their differences in the handling of young players. One week later, he fired the manager, future Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa and his now legendary pitching-coach sidekick, Dave Duncan.

Hawk wanted former players in positions of power. Among his hires was Alvin Dark, brought in to be in charge of the farm system even though he'd never been anything but a manager in a career spanning from 1961 to 1977.

In fact, Dark had been fired as Oakland A's manager in 1967, leading to criticism from one of his players: Ken Harrelson. Hawk was let go angrily by A's owner Charlie Finley, and ended up as the target of a bidding war that sent him to the eventual AL champion Boston Red Sox.

Oh, by the way, GM Hawk also traded a young prospect named Bobby Bonilla to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jose DeLeon.

Valuing decision-makers with playing experience over educated research. Unfailing loyalty. The removal of any sort of differing voices. Rash displays of power. These are the hallmarks of the Harrelson era as GM. They fit things you've heard from the booth.

They're traits the organization as a whole should be getting away from.

Carlos Sanchez showing more to his game than leather

Doug Padilla, ESPNChicago.com August 6, 2015

The thing about all-glove, no-bat Chicago White Sox second baseman Carlos Sanchez is that he actually does have a solid track record of offense going back to his days in the minor leagues.

So while his recent explosion of offense seems like a nice surprise, given how well he has fielded his position this season, Sanchez is less shocked and more relieved that he finally can show his complete game.

Carlos Sanchez's bat has come alive over the past three weeks. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast “In the beginning it was very difficult for me to get the hits, but I worked through that moment and now I am finally getting the results,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I have been working so hard for this moment. Things have been very good for me and my offense is good. I am feeling very confident right now.”

The more he hits, the more confident he gets, and the more confident he gets, the more he hits. It’s a cyclical chain that got him through the White Sox’s farm system and is finally serving him well at the major league level.

When Sanchez was batting .162 as recently as July 6, the question being asked wasn’t how to get Sanchez better at the plate, it was a query as to when Micah Johnson might be on his way back to the club. Sanchez has quieted those inquiries with his noisy bat.

His two hits in Wednesday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays were not screaming line drives by any stretch of the imagination, but they were two more singles to add to the growing number of hits that have marked Sanchez’s revival.

While the team’s productive road trip through Cleveland and Boston coincided with the height of Sanchez’s production so far, he still had a hit in all three games against the Rays this week.

Sanchez was just 5-for-24 (.208) on the just-completed six-game homestand, but he is still batting .338 (25-for-74) over his last 18 games. Sanchez hasn’t been just a singles hitter during that stretch either, posting a .535 slugging percentage, with six doubles and three home runs.

His most recent came Monday in the seventh inning against the Rays when his two-run shot briefly put the White Sox into the lead.

“He has some pop, you just don’t want him relying on it,” manager Robin Ventura said. “He has it in there, we know he’s had it in there, but first he had to go through the stretch of surviving and now he’s starting to get a little confidence going with it and he’s swinging the bat pretty good lately. He’s been playing great.”

At this point, Sanchez’s perceived weakness (hitting) is superior to Johnson’s weakness (defense), making the organization’s second-base debate less of a talking point.

Sanchez always figured his hitting would come around if given an everyday chance. In 2012 he did tie for the Carolina League lead in hitting with a .315 batting average at Single-A Winston-Salem. And when he was promoted to Double-A , he kept right on hitting, finishing the season with a combined .323 batting average and 79 runs scored in 133 games.

He hit a pedestrian .241 at Triple-A Charlotte in 2013, but returned last year to bat .293 in nearly the same amount of games, showing that he can operate just fine if given a proper adjustment period.

Sanchez still lags behind Johnson offensively, but his overall game is what has made the difference. Johnson is batting an impressive .328 in 66 games since returning to Charlotte earlier this season, but barring injury, he probably won’t be back with the White Sox until rosters expand in September.

With a .229 batting average and a .259 on-base percentage, Sanchez still has some ground to make up after his slow offensive start, but he has proven he has the tools to do it.

“I am very happy to help the team on both sides of the game, defense and offense,” Sanchez said. “That is the most important thing right now, especially at this moment, because we are in the race for the wild card. Every game is important for us and if you can contribute in some way to help the team win games, it’s good.”

Who knows, maybe Sanchez can even be utilized as a No. 2 hitter one day, but for now he will remain at the bottom of the order where he can continue to adjust to the major league game.

“He can definitely [bat second], but right now you like having him down there that there is something down at the bottom of the lineup to make something happen,” Ventura said. “[Tyler Saladino] has been getting on base, doing stuff, steal, keeping him at the top and Sanchey, a switch hitter at the bottom, it doesn’t matter who they bring in you have a bat down there that can do something.”

Tonight on CSN: White Sox look to take down AL-best Royals

CSN Chicago August 7, 2015

The White Sox take on the Royals tonight, and you can catch all the action on Comcast SportsNet. Coverage begins with Steve Stone and Scott Podsednik at 7 p.m. Be sure to stick around after the final out to get analysis and player reaction on White Sox Postgame Live.

White Sox: Scott Podsednik to fill in for Steve Stone on broadcast over weekend

CSN Chicago August 7, 2015

The White Sox have spent much of 2015 remembering their championship team from one decade ago. This weekend the fun will continue.

Analyst Steve Stone will be taking the weekend off when the Sox head to Kansas City for a critical road series against the Royals and ex-White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik will fill in with Hawk Harrelson for the broadcasts.

Podsednik played with the White Sox for four years, but is most known for his walkoff home run in Game 2 of the against the Houston Astros.

In his four seasons on the South Side, Podsednik hit .280 with 12 home runs and 129 RBI.

Stone will return to the broadcast following the weekend series.

You can catch Friday and Saturday's White Sox-Royals showdowns on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Chicago at Kansas City

CBSSports.com August 7, 2015

Two months ago, the Kansas City Royals sat one game back of the AL Central lead after their toughest stretch of the season. They came out of that just fine.

Now with a sizable division lead, they're taking another rough patch in stride as they send Edinson Volquez to the mound to start a three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

The Royals (63-44) dropped nine of 11 from May 24-June 6 and fell behind Minnesota in the Central. They've since built the biggest division lead in baseball and have the best record in the AL despite having lost six of eight.

Kansas City's 10-game road trip came to a disappointing end Thursday after hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give Detroit an 8-6 victory. The Royals tied it in the seventh on a homer by Drew Butera and a two-run double from Kendrys Morales.

''It is always disappointing to lose a series, and this is two of them,'' manager Ned Yost said. ''What's done is done, but this is disappointing.''

Volquez (10-6, 3.20 ERA) has a 2.48 ERA over his last six starts, but he had a role in tempers flaring during Sunday's 5-2 loss to Toronto. Volquez said he simply was pitching to the scouting report when he threw high and tight to , whom Volquez hit once before whizzing another pitch past his head.

The right-hander wasn't ejected and made it through six innings for the fourth straight start. That stretch began July 17, when he gave up two in 6 1-3 of a 2-0 loss to the White Sox.

Volquez is 1-2 with a 1.80 ERA in three starts this season against Chicago, which has lost seven of 10 meetings and has gone through a difficult stretch of its own.

The White Sox (51-55) followed a season-best seven-game winning streak by losing five of their next six before beating Tampa Bay 6-5 in 10 innings Wednesday. Adam Eaton stole second, went to third after the throw got away and scored the winning run on Avisail Garcia's bases-loaded walk.

Chicago is 4 1/2 games back of the second wild card, but it would have to jump six teams.

"Hopefully we can start streaking for about a month or two," Eaton said. "We've definitely been Jekyll and Hyde, where it's been one or the other. Hopefully, we can get on the good side of things and roll a little bit here."

The White Sox were swept in Kansas City to open the season and have dropped six of the last seven meetings at Kauffman Stadium. They'll turn to John Danks, who outdueled Volquez last month to improve to 9-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 19 career starts against the Royals.

That began a four-start stretch for Danks (6-8, 4.80) during which he is 2-0 with a 2.78 ERA after allowing one run and striking out eight in 5 2-3 innings of Saturday's 8-2 win over the New York Yankees.

''It's definitely gotten better," said Danks, who has allowed one run or none in four of six starts since ending June with a 5.38 ERA. "I wish it hadn't taken this long and hopefully it'll continue, but I feel good about things right now.''

Danks is 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 11 career starts in Kansas City, but he's 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in his last three outings on the road.