Royals host the White Sox in first of 4-game series

Chicago White Sox (10-24, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (19-16, third in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Monday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: White Sox: Shane Smith (1-1, 2.23 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 26 strikeouts); Royals: Cole Ragans (1-1, 4.40 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 46 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Royals -246, White Sox +201; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals begin a four-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Kansas City is 11-5 at home and 19-16 overall. The Royals have a 6-0 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

Chicago is 10-24 overall and 3-13 in road games. The White Sox have gone 5-19 in games when they have given up at least one home run.

Monday's game is the first meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 13 doubles and four home runs for the Royals. Maikel Garcia is 14-for-38 with three doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Miguel Vargas has six doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI while hitting .220 for the White Sox. Luis Robert is 11-for-37 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 8-2, .283 batting average, 2.12 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs

White Sox: 5-5, .255 batting average, 3.70 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

INJURIES: Royals: Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cole Ragans: day-to-day (groin), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Sam Long: 15-Day IL (elbow), Dairon Blanco: 10-Day IL (achilles), Kyle Wright: 15-Day IL (shoulder)

White Sox: Fraser Ellard: 15-Day IL (lat), Andrew Benintendi: day-to-day (calf), Gage Workman: 10-Day IL (hip), Martin Perez: 60-Day IL (forearm), Austin Slater: 10-Day IL (knee), Michael Tauchman: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Korey Lee: 10-Day IL (ankle), Drew Thorpe: 60-Day IL (elbow), Prelander Berroa: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ky Bush: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesse Scholtens: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.