Kansas City at Chicago

Last night's 22-1 final tells you what the Kansas City Royals' week looked like in Chicago. A 10-run third inning, five home runs, the second-highest run total in White Sox franchise history — a complete and thorough embarrassment. But the game that matters tonight is the one they're about to play, not the one they just endured, and there's a critical difference between the two. Last night was an opener game, with Mitch Spence absorbing 10 runs in less than two innings of mop-up work after the damage was already done. Tonight, Michael Wacha pitches, and the veteran right-hander has been solid all year at a 3.48 ERA, the kind of arm that keeps his team in ballgames start after start. He draws Davis Martin, who has been one of the better starters in the American League this season and has yet to lose a home start all year. The runline does not ask Wacha to beat him outright. It asks him to keep the game within reach — to pitch the way he's been capable of pitching — and a one-run Chicago win still cashes the ticket. Kansas City wins on the runline tonight.