1. Gonzalez looked really crisp for that inning he was in the game, striking out two and recording a scoreless inning, but all of sudden came to a stop with a 3-2 count to Salvador Perez and had to be pulled from the game. It’s been reported as a groin strain, and while the Sox have not officially announced it, he told beat writers he’s headed to the disabled list. Gonzalez had been nothing short of dominant since the beginning of July, accumulating a 2.76 ERA since the first of last month coming into Thursday night, going beyond simply being quite the savior as a league-average starter plucked from the waiver wire in Spring Training.

He was going to earn some money in arbitration, and this stinks for him.

2. Michael Ynoa is not the first name that comes to mind when multiple clean innings are needed, but he somehow dug up his best outing of the season, pitching three walkless, hitless and scoreless innings while striking out three. He really only flashed mildly upgraded control, and if his ability to hit the zone was the same with an only mild reordering of the pitches, he probably issues a couple walks, but it was nice to see him succeed for once. There’s a major league guy in there somewhere if the command ticks up a grade or two (or three).

After Ynoa gave way, Carson Fulmer came in for three innings of his own. He was dominant in his opening frame, twirling a perfect fifth, but started the sixth by issuing a leadoff walk to Jarrod Dyson–never smart, and Dyson getting thrown out at second by Dioner Navarro was overturned on replay–and hung a slider to new Royals tormentor Cheslor Cuthbert. A liner from Cuthbert to the right-center gap rolled all the way to wall past center fielder Adam Eaton, and tied the game a 1-1, and Eric Hosmer plated Cuthbert when he took a slightly sharper cutter and poked it to right.

3. That was all the offense the Royals would need. Their lineup had just four hits all night, but Duffy twirled a complete game with only 98 pitches, and didn’t allow anyone to reach third base after the Sox scratched across their only run in the second inning.

4. Sox rookies combined for the only offense as well. Demoted to the sixth spot for the night, Tim Anderson broke out for two hits, and flashed some more of his speed when Jason Coats inside-outed a two-out single to center to drive him in from second. Melky Cabrera was the only other Sox hitter to have a multi-hit night, but Cuthbert’s triple was the only extra-base hit of the entire game for either side.

5. Since the Sox have not formally announced Gonzalez’s move to the disabled list, they have not determined a roster replacement for Miami yet. Seeking help for a worn out bullpen and deciding on the replacement for Gonzalez in the rotation later seems like the move for the weekend. Matt Purke has already been up this year and would address the lefty void left by Zach Duke, Juan Minaya has been actually throwing strikes, which distinguishes him from the rest of the Charlotte pitching staff, and Zack Burdi‘s rapid ascent can only be held off for so long.

Team Record: 54-60

Next game is Friday at 6:10pm CT on CSN at Miami

Lead Image Credit: John Rieger // USA Today Sports Images

1. Quintana, per usual, was good. In fact, he didn’t face more than four batters in an inning until the eighth, his last inning of the afternoon. He made exactly three mistakes: two solo home runs to Cheslor Cuthbert (in the third and eighth), and another solo shot to Kendrys Morales in the fifth. In total he allowed just six hits, striking out 10 (!) and walking none (!!). Allowing home runs are never good, obviously, but this loss was not his fault.

2. The offense, as has been the case since the end of their hot stretch, was putrid. Just like there wasn’t much to report on Quintana’s end, there isn’t much to say other than: Danny Duffy was great. He allowed just three hits over six innings, walking three and striking out 10. The Sox actually got a chance to score off of Duffy way back in the first inning, as a lead off walk from Adam Eaton and a subsequent Jose Abreu single put runners on first and second with no one out. Naturally, Robin Ventura had Melky Cabrera sacrifice bunt, and Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie followed that up with a strikeout and line out. Hey, guys: don’t bunt in the first inning — or with your No. 3 hitter. They also put a runner in scoring position in the third with two outs, but Lawrie struck out. They’d get a chance later on, but it’d prove to be too little, and too late.

3. The white flag crew came in the form of Matt Purke and Tyler Danish, and Danish allowed a run on three hits and one walk. It didn’t matter, but that tack-on run against a division rival always irritate.

4. Not only do the tack-on runs irritate, but a last-minute run that doesn’t change the outcome bothers me just as much. It would have been nice to see a run back in the first, thank you very much. The typical Royals relief crew came in — Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera, and Wade Davis — and the Sox were able to come away with just a run. Both Soria and Herrera worked a clean seventh and eighth, and then Davis allowed a run on a couple of hits from Frazier and Avisail Garcia. Once again, save that for before garbage time.

5. The White Sox are now back to .500, and that stinks. They have really faltered for this past month and change, and they now find themselves four games back of first place. The real question is: how much longer can they tread water before they make another deal, one of substance, that can stop the bleeding? The Sox will take on the Royals for the final game of the three-game set; Carlos Rodon will face Yordano Ventura at 1:10 p.m. CT.

Team record: 31-31

Lead Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

This particular attempt will be led by Miguel Gonzalez. The newest rotation addition has now racked up four starts with the White Sox, with his most successful being the most recent. After walking 10 batters in his first three appearances, Gonzalez didn’t issue a single free pass. He also struck out eight batters, a feat he’s only bested three times in his career. While this is not likely a step forward that indicates we are viewing an entirely new pitcher, it does represent an acceptable and welcome fifth starter performance, and allows us to assume a couple more starts have been purchased with it.

In 2016 Danny Duffy has established a strikeout rate 10 percent higher than what he’s shown in his two previous seasons, and has cut his walk rate by roughly two percent during that same period. This is easily explained with usage – until mid-May he was being utilized exclusively as a reliever. However, when the Sox got their first look at him in just his second start of the season, they didn’t do much to offset those short sample numbers. In four and one-third innings within a limited pitch count, the Sox had just four hits and did not work any walks in a game they would go on to lose 2-1. They’ve seen him now, and his pitch limit will likely be ticked up at least a small amount, it would be nice if he was still forcibly removed from the game prior to completing five innings for reasons of abuse.

Rumors of Jose Abreu‘s demise may have been exaggerated. He’s got a way to go before his batting line gets back to what we expect out of him, but he has collected six hits in the last two games, which has helped us feel that he looks more comfortable at the plate. His appearance to appearance perceived comfort level is generally less consistent than it is with most players of his skill level, so what comes next is anybody’s guess, but he is definitely capable of carrying the team offensively, and they kind of need to be carried right now. On the other side, the Royals injury ride goes around one more time. Already down Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas is making a return trip to the disabled list with a torn ACL.

White Sox Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson – CF
2. Melky Cabrera – LF
3. Todd Frazier – 3B
4. Jose Abreu – 1B
5. Jerry Sands – DH
6. Brett Lawrie – 2B
7. Jimmy Rollins – SS
8. Avisail Garcia – RF
9. Dioner Navarro – C

Royals Lineup:

1. Alcides Escober – SS
2. Whit Merrifield – 2B
3. Lorenzo Cain – CF
4. Eric Hosmer – 1B
5. Salvador Perez – C
6. Paulo Orlando – RF
7. Cheslor Cuthbert – 3B
8. Brett Eibner – DH
9. Jarrod Dyson – LF

Lead Photo Credit: Jerry Lai – USA Today Sports Images

1. The White Sox have scored four runs total in their last three games, failed to record a hit with runners in scoring position this series, lost four-straight series, and have lost five games in the division standings in less than two weeks, with the Indians still playing Saturday.

They had a great start to the year and earned themselves a great head start, but with Saturday’s no-show by the offense, they have exhausted most of the spoils of that start, and are now more simply division contenders rather than frontrunners. And they happen to be in this position while playing their worst ball.

2. The Sox didn’t need a huge rally to come back against a tough Royals bullpen, but got far less than that. A leadoff walk to Dioner Navarro and newly-returned Mike Moustakas mishandling an Adam Eaton bunt loaded the bases against lefty reliever Brian Flynn in the seventh. But Joakim Soria stepped in with the heart of the order coming up and escaped with a double play and a strikeout to leave with just a run across.

Soria would deliver two clean innings before giving way to Wade Davis in the ninth who, despite needing to pitch over a two-out walk, was Wade Davis. Side-armed righty Peter Moylan delivered five scoreless outs as well.

3. Getting to the starter is a huge mandate against the Royals, but given another spot-starting injury replacement, the White Sox offense could offer no resistance. Granted, Danny Duffy throwing 95-97 mph is not the typical journeyman, but he was extending himself on loan from the bullpen and still managed to give the Royals 4.1 scoreless innings before hitting 60 pitches.

He wasn’t perfect, as Sox hitting wasted two singles in the first, a deep Brett Lawrie blast to center died on the warning track in the second, and Melky Cabrera missed a game-tying home run in the fourth by inches before being stranded at second.

4. Our own Ethan Spalding brusquely described White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez‘s path to victory as “he just needs nearly perfect location to be successful and anything below that gets him killed.” Despite the grim forecast that suggests, Gonzalez achieved it Saturday afternoon. After a wild first inning that saw Alcides Escobar single and come around on an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly, Gonzalez cruised through four-straight scoreless frames, striking out four of five during one stretch over the third and fourth innings.

A bold decision to leave him in for the sixth inning produced a booming Lorenzo Cain home run to left-center to give the Royals a 2-0 lead, but he wrapped a strong six-inning day with six hits, the two runs allowed, eight strikeouts and amazingly — after an awful Sunday in New York — zero walks.

5. Hopefully no one was holding out for a Jose Abreu revival on this day. The struggling big man went 1-for-4 with a shanked single to right field when Duffy busted him inside, saw his season slugging percentage drop below .400 and lumbered around very slowly just to amp up the anxiety. He was at the plate when the White Sox pushed their first run across in the seventh, but did not credited for an RBI after grounding into a bases loaded double play.

Lawrie did managed to snap an 0-for-19 slump, though.

Team Record: 25-18

Next game is Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT vs. Kansas City on WGN

Lead Image Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki // USA Today Sports Images

But the order in which they have come to this 1.5 game lead in the AL Central is causing anxiety. Possibly because it was a five-game lead just a minute ago, possibly because the surging second-place Cleveland Indians were picked by many, PECOTA included, to be their betters and currently have a superior run differential, and possibly because, well, no one in the White Sox starting rotation not named Chris Sale or Jose Quintana has looked capable of turning over a major league lineup twice, which is necessary on most days.

Miguel Gonzalez enters the fray for the fourth time this season, once again looking for a foothold at the fifth starter slot. He enters with a 5.17 ERA, and an even more discouraging 19 hits, 11 strikeouts and 10 walks across 15.1 innings. This is the product of him mostly getting shelled in Toronto but perhaps squeezing more innings out of it than your typical shelling, a borderline gem in Texas that benefitted greatly from a well-time sixth-inning pull, and a disasterpiece in New York where he issued five walks over one strikeout to a bad Yankees offense.

You watch Gonzalez and you see a low-90s fastball with nice sinking action, a slider that flashes average and can get a whiff here or there if the count and the location are right, but you also see a guy who is vacillates between frustrating nibbling and awful mistakes in the zone. The Sox don’t have many options right now–as evidence by Gonzalez going right back in after that Yankees mess–but he needs to start putting together his intriguing ingredients into a palatable meal, in order to get himself off the top of the list of guys to be replaced with a trade acquisition.

Speaking of back of the roster players getting a chance to star, Jerry Sands is batting cleanup and starting at first, as manager Robin Ventura tries to achieve three ends at once: rest Jose Abreu, give a day off to the slumping Avisail Garcia, and give Sands (a career .287/.339/.485 hitter versus lefties) an opportunity to shine against a rare in-division matchup with a lefty starter.

In roster news, Ventura said Jake Petricka is still experiencing soreness in his hip, and while he did not offer a timeline, he does not expect him to return after the minimum 15 days of his disabled list stint. Mike Moustakas returns to the Royals lineup after breaking his thumb. He remains second on the team in homers and slugging percentage despite the absence.

White Sox Lineup:

1. Adam Eaton – RF
2. Jose Abreu – DH
3. Todd Frazier – 3B
4. Jerry Sands – 1B
5. Melky Cabrera – LF
6. Brett Lawrie – 2B
7. Austin Jackson- CF
8. Dioner Navarro – C
9. Tyler Saladino – SS

SP – Miguel Gonzalez

Royals Lineup:

1.  Alcides Escobar – SS
2. Mike Moustakas – 3B
3. Lorenzo Cain – CF
4. Eric Hosmer – 1B
5. Kendrys Morales – DH
6. Alex Gordon – LF
7. Salvador Perez – C
8. Whit Merrifield – 2B
9. Jarrod Dyson – RF

SP – Danny Duffy

The game is at 1:10pm CT on CSN.

Lead Image Credit: Anthony Gruppuso // USA Today Sports Images