Chi White Sox (88-55) at Kansas City (46-96), 8:10 pm EDT
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Chicago White Sox own the
best road record in baseball, and Freddy Garcia has been a big
reason why.
Garcia and the White Sox each look to maintain their success
away from home Wednesday when they face the Kansas City Royals
in the middle game of their three-game set.
The 29-year-old Garcia (12-8, 3.75 ERA) has made up for a 3-5
home record by winning nine of 12 decisions away from U.S.
Cellular Field. The Venezuelan righthander has a 3.04 ERA and
is holding opponents to a .236 average away from home.
However, Garcia has dropped four of his last five decisions,
including Thursday's loss to the Royals in which he gave up
three runs in seven innings to fall to 8-7 in his career against
them.
J.P. Howell (2-5, 6.63) opposed Garcia in Thursday's contest,
yielding two runs in six innings to win for the first time since
his major league debut on June 11. The 22-year-old lefthander
has made four starts at home this year, going 0-3 with an 8.68
ERA.
The White Sox posted a 6-4 triumph in the series opener Tuesday
behind four hits by Aaron Rowand and three from Scott Podsednik.
Juan Uribe added two doubles and an RBI for Chicago, which
improved to a major league-best 45-24 on the road. The White
Sox have won 27 of their last 40 road games to move within three
of the club record for road wins in a season, set in 1993 and
2000.
Kansas City has dropped 13 of its last 17 games and is four
losses shy of its third 100-loss season in four years.