Lefty Jose Quintana can stay unbeaten for an 11th straight start on Friday night when the Chicago White Sox host the Kansas City Royals to begin a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field.
The 23-year-old was 3-2 on the season after a 7-0 loss to the crosstown Chicago Cubs on May 27, but has since won a pair of decisions in 10 starts.
He was involved in seven consecutive no-decisions following the loss to the Cubs, games in which the White Sox were 3-4 while Quintana's earned run average dropped slightly from 3.75 to 3.69.
He pitched eight innings for a defeat of the Detroit Tigers on July 9, then made it two victories in the month when he topped Atlanta, 3-1, with 5 2/3 innings of nine-hit ball.
Quintana got a no-decision against the Royals on June 22 in a game Chicago won, 3-2, and he's 0-1 against them in five career meetings.
Kansas City starts righty James Shields, whose 4-1 loss to Detroit on July 21 ended a string of nine starts without a defeat.
The former Tampa Bay Rays ace was 2-6 on the season after losing to St. Louis on May 27, but went 2-0 in nine starts before falling to the Tigers.
The Royals won eight of the nine starts in the stretch, though Shields only got credit for beating Minnesota on June 28 and the New York Yankees on July 9.
He's 3-4 in 14 career meetings with the White Sox.
On Thursday in Baltimore, Jeremy Guthrie tossed six strong innings to lead the Royals over the Orioles, 7-1, at Kauffman Stadium.
Guthrie (10-7) scattered six hits and yielded just one run, as the Royals took the final three games of the four-game set to end their seven-game homestand with five wins. The right-hander struck out five and walked one of his former teammates to get to double-digit wins for the first time since 2010 when he was a member of the Orioles.
Billy Butler went 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored. Alex Gordon and David Lough each drove in a pair of runs Kansas City, which pounded out 10 hits on the day the club announced that George Brett stepped down as interim hitting coach.
The club's all-time hits leader and Hall of Fame third baseman gave way to Pedro Grifol and returned to his previous position of vice president of baseball operations.
Brett, 60, took over as interim hitting coach on May 30 after the Royals reassigned lead and assistant hitting coaches Jack Maloof and Andre David to the club's minor league organization. However, the role did not suit Brett's desires.
In Chicago, Tyler Flowers hit a solo homer and knocked in two runs to help the White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4, in the finale of a four-game series.
Alexei Ramirez went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for the White Sox, who had lost the first three games. Alex Rios, Paul Konerko and Jeff Keppinger each knocked in a run.
Chicago starter Jake Peavy (8-4) allowed four runs on four hits while striking out seven over seven-plus innings.
The White Sox won five of the first nine games with the Royals in 2013, including two of three in a series in Kansas City from June 21-23.
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