Game thread IC – White Sox at Royals

Tonight is Brady Singer’s 20th start this season, and it will be just his ninth under the lights. When games begin tonight, the Royals will be just 1.5 games behind the Red Sox in the battle for the final playoff spot in the American League. If the Royals make the postseason, they will certainly have to play a lot of night games, and Singer will therefore have to get used to those starts. This becomes even more important when you consider that Singer has been significantly better in day starts — 2.55 ERA, 56/18 K/BB in 60 innings — than in his evening appearances — 4.09 ERA, 43/14 K/BB in 44 innings. Singer last pitched in a day game against the Red Sox on Sunday, and it didn’t go well. Still, pitching against their bleached opponents tonight should be an excellent opportunity to improve his numbers.

Singer pitched two games against the White Sox this year and the Royals won both, but the lead didn’t come until after Singer left the mound.

The White Sox will counter with rookie Jonathan Cannon. Cannon has been good in his first MLB season, posting a 4.47 ERA and a 4.19 FIP in his first 10 games, eight of which he played as a starter. He doesn’t strike out often, but he doesn’t let walks often either. He does Allow home runs. If Cannon’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he made his major league debut on April 17 against the Royals in Chicago – coincidentally the night of Singer’s second start against the Sox this season. Cannon went 5 innings and allowed just a single run in a game that ultimately went to the Royals when Hunter Renfroe and Salvador Perez both hit home runs against the bullpen.

Cannon hasn’t been consistent this year; after his debut against the Royals, he had two poor starts before being moved to the bullpen for a scoreless three-inning relief appearance. He then pitched seven innings and one run against the Mariners before pitching 8.2 scoreless innings against the Astros in mid-June. Since then, however, he has allowed 13 runs in 18.2 innings in three starts and one big relief appearance, with significantly fewer strikeouts than before.

Lineups

Adam Frazier continues to be the Royals’ first hitter because he has no better option. He’s not particularly good there, but Maikel Garcia has been significantly better at eighth — he has a hit in each of his five games at the position — so maybe that evens things out. Drew Waters makes his second major league start this year, batting seventh and playing left field. Hopefully it goes better than his first two, in which he had no hits or walks and struck out twice in seven at-bats.