Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals: Game Preview (4/4)

Apr 3, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Josh Willingham (16) scores as Chicago White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers (21) gets the late throw during the fifth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Friday is the beginning of a three-game series for the Chicago White Sox as they travel to Kauffman Stadium to take on the Kansas City Royals.

The last time these two teams faced each other (Sept. 26-29), the White Sox lost the four-game series, 3-1.

This season, the Royals have yet to win a game, but they were playing the reigning AL Central champion Detroit Tigers, where they lost by scores of 4-3 and 2-1. Game three of the series was rained out on Thursday.

Chicago enters the game with a 2-1 record, dropping the finale of their three-game set vs. the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox won by scores of 5-3 and 7-6 in 11 innings but lost Thursday by a 10-9 score.

Here are some more thoughts on this game for April 3:

• This series will go a long way for the month of April to let us know exactly where the White Sox are and where they could be following the first month of the season. The Royals bring some better competition than what the Twins did, and it will be a very good early test for the club.

• Jose Abreu, Tyler Flowers and Alexei Ramirez lead the White Sox with five hits each through the first three games of the 2014 season. The surprise of this group is the play of Flowers. On Thursday, he was 4-for-4 and was still pinch-hit for in the ninth inning with two outs with the game-tying run on third base. Maybe yesterday’s performance was a sign of things to come for Flowers … I hope.

• Let’s all hope starter Erik Johnson goes deep into the game to possibly give a majority of the bullpen a break. They could use it after what some of them did yesterday.

• With Nate Jones on the DL now, maybe he can fix his woes that have haunted him in his two appearances this season.

• Last season, the White Sox were 26-55 on the road … that must improve for this team to take a step in the right direction.

• Against the Royals in ’13 the White Sox were 9-10, scoring 56 runs and allowing 57. Maybe this year the wins and losses can be reversed in this series.

• What are the odds today Adam Dunn hits a home run for the third straight day? I’m predicting he goes 1-4 today.

• Pregame Tweet

• They said it … From the official White Sox site in an article by Scott Merkin following Thursday’s loss:

"“If you look at the whole series, it’s a good series, it’s a good way to start the season. This one is a little tough because we had a couple of chances to kind of seal it up.” — White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers."