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The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals begin a three-game series at 8:10 p.m. Friday in Kansas City.
Chicago has a 2.5 game lead in the American League Central over the second place Detroit Tigers. The Royals are 15 games under .500, but they've already won two out of three in a series in Chicago earlier this month and they are 9-6 overall in the month of August.
Left-hander Chris Sale (14-3, 2.60 ERA) starts for Chicago. He's pitched against Kansas City three times this season and is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA against them. The Royals have hit .298 against Sale, which is the second highest opponent average for any team Sale has pitched against.
The Royals will start right-hander Luis Mendoza (6-8, 4.37 ERA). Mendoza has eight quality starts in his last 11 starts. He has pitched against Chicago three times this season and he's 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA against the White Sox.
The White Sox hit five home runs in Thursday's win over Toronto.
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