KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Back in January, Alex Gordon signed a four-year, $72 million contract to remain with the Kansas City Royals.The Royals, who entertain the Chicago White Sox in a series finale Thursday, are certainly not getting their moneys worth this season from the four-time left field Gold Glover winner and three-time All-Star.Gordon, 32, is hitting .203 with eight home runs and 18 RBI in 82 games, having struck out 95 times in 281 at-bats. His double Wednesday was his second extra-base hit in 16 games.You know guys have good years and you know guys have bad years, Royals manager Ned Yost said. In my mind, Alex is going to have a really, really good year next year. We know what type of player he is. We know what type of work ethic he has. He never quits. Hes continuing to work.Hes continuing to stay strong in his conditioning routine and his work ethic. Its just one of those years where its been a struggle for him.Yost said he is unable to detect in Gordons demeanor what kind of season the outfielder is having.Hes hard to read, Yost said. Hes just very businesslike in everything that he does. And you cant tell if hes gone 10-for-10 or 0-for-20.Gordon missed more than a month with a fractured right wrist after a May 22 collision with third baseman Mike Moustakas, who sustained a season-ending knee injury on the play.Is the injury play contributing to Gordons poor offensive year?He was having a down year before he got hurt, Yost said. Its just one of those crazy weird years for him.Gordon at least pulled his batting average back over .200 on Wednesday when he went 2-for-5 in the Royals 3-2, 14-inning win over Chicago.The White Sox have alternated losses with wins throughout the past seven games. They began the season 23-10, a run that third baseman Todd Frazier said the club could duplicate.We still have an opportunity to be in it, Frazier said regarding a postseason berth. I know nobodys giving up right now. We go in there and do that 23-10 stretch, well have a bigger opportunity, starting now. I think we have a big run in us. I still believe that a lot. I still believe that we do. Just got to keep fighting and find ways to win games.White Sox manager Robin Ventura keeps his view more focused on game-to-game issues than Fraziers extended-run picture.I keep it small, Ventura said. They can look as big as they want. But, for us, we look at how were getting through this series, how youre matching up with those guys. Injuries take on a certain part of it, but we have some guys that are untested with some of it, so you dont really know what youre going to get.I like where his heads at, the way theyre thinking. Again, were going to match up with who weve got and go get em, but I like the fact that we have that feeling, that he does.The White Sox will start right-hander Miguel Gonzalez in the series finale. Gonzalez is 2-6 with a 4.09 ERA in 18 games, 17 of them starts. He is coming off a loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, when he allowed four runs, three earned, on 10 hits over six innings.Gonzalez is 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts against the Royals this season. Jarrod Dyson is 8-for-10 off Gonzalez, while Gordon is 1-for-10 against him.The Royals will counter with left-hander Danny Duffy, who is 8-1 with a 2.97 ERA. He has won his past seven decisions.Duffy is 4-0 in nine starts this season at Kauffman Stadium, where he has not lost since Sept. 5, 2015, against the White Sox.In three starts vs. Chicago this year, Duffy is 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA. On June 3 at U.S. Cellular Field, he threw six shutout innings of three-hit ball, striking out 10 and walking three in a 4-1 win.Basketball Shoes Sale . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. https://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.com/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Discount Basketball Shoes . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Cheap Basketball Shoes China . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night.MIAMI -- President Barack Obama has invited the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to visit him at the White House.The team will have to make travel arrangements quickly, though, because Obama leaves office in mid-January. Obama extended the invitation to manager Joe Maddon during a congratulatory telephone call Thursday evening as he flew back to Washington aboard Air Force One.Obama tweeted the invitation early Thursday, shortly after the Cubs won their first championship since 1908 by defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings.The Cubs arent Obamas preferred baseball team; his loyalties lie with the White Sox.White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Obama rooted for the Cubss because hes from Chicago and the White Sox didnt make it to the championship.ddddddddddddHe said Obama watched the final innings of the game at his hotel in Miami late Wednesday after campaigning for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.Obama congratulated the Cubs at another Clinton rally Thursday. He said he had heard someone explain that, when the Cubs last won the World Series, inventor Thomas Edison was alive and sliced bread wasnt yet invented.Obama said the championship is actually, for Cubs fans, the greatest thing since sliced bread. ' ' '