(My Sportsbook) - If the 2009 major league baseball regular season ended right now, the Kansas City Royals would be in the playoffs and Zack Greinke would more than likely be the American League's Cy Young Award winner.

Greinke will attempt to become the first six-game winner in the majors this season when the standout pitcher leads the AL Central-leading Royals into a two-game series with the defending division champion Chicago White Sox that begins tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

The 25-year-old Greinke has been one of the amazing stories over the first month of the 2009 campaign, with the young right-hander having won all five of his starts so far and surrendering a mere three runs -- two earned -- over 36 innings in the process. Greinke has also racked up 44 strikeouts, the second- most among AL hurlers at the moment, and is limiting opposing hitters to a .188 average.

Greinke's performance is one reason why the Royals, a team that last reached the postseason in 1985, currently sit atop the AL Central standings with a 14-11 record, a half-game ahead of Detroit and 1 1/2 in front of the third- place White Sox.

Chicago has already received a first-hand look at Greinke's dominance, as the former first-round draft pick opened his season by firing six shutout innings to defeat the White Sox April 8 in the Windy City. He hasn't had a wealth of career success against the Pale Hose, however, having amassed a 4-8 overall record with a 4.63 earned run average in 18 appearances (15 starts) versus Chicago.

After tossing back-to-back complete-game wins and registering 10 strikeouts in each, Greinke ran his record to 5-0 by twirling seven innings of two-run ball and fanning eight batters in an 11-3 home decision over Toronto on Wednesday.

He'll be trying to pitch the Royals to a third straight win and fifth triumph in the club's past six games this evening. Kansas City returns home after rallying for a 7-5 victory at Minnesota on Sunday, in which the team scored seven times over the final three innings to erase a 4-0 deficit.

The Royals failed to record a hit over Twins starter Scott Baker over the first six innings, but broke through for five runs in the seventh to pull ahead. Jose Guillen put Kansas City on the board with a three-run homer off Baker, and Alberto Callaspo later delivered a go-ahead two-run double during the big frame.

Guillen added an RBI double in the eighth, while Willie Bloomquist contributed a pair of hits and scored twice in the comeback.

Gil Meche (2-2) battled through six innings to get the win, allowing four runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Joakim Soria was touched for an unearned run in the ninth, but held on for his sixth save.

Chicago comes in after dropping the final two tests of a three-game series in Texas over the weekend, including a 5-1 setback in Sunday's finale.

Former Rangers farmhand John Danks (2-2) struggled on the mound for the White Sox, permitting five runs on 10 hits over the first 5 1/3 innings. Jayson Nix went 2-for-3 for Chicago and knocked in the team's only run with a seventh- inning sacrifice fly.

The White Sox played last night's contest without slugger Jermaine Dye, who sat out after being struck on the left hand with a pitch in Saturday's 9-6 loss to the Rangers. X-rays taken afterward were negative, and the veteran outfielder has a chance to be back in the lineup tonight.

Bartolo Colon gets the starting assignment for Chicago in this evening's opener and looks to build off his best outing of the season. Against Seattle on Tuesday, the former AL Cy Young winner yielded one unearned run and just four hits over seven innings to lead the Sox to a 2-1 win. Colon also recorded a season-best six strikeouts on the night.

The 35-year-old, who had made just 25 starts over the previous two seasons due to a variety of arm injuries, is 2-1 with a respectable 4.15 ERA in four 2009 starts but has been hit hard on the road. In his two early-season mound trips in enemy venues, Colon has been reached for 10 runs and 14 hits over just 8 2/3 innings.

The stocky right-hander does own a 15-7 lifetime record with a 4.84 ERA in 25 starts against Kansas City, and allowed two runs over five innings to beat the Royals while with Boston in May of last season.

Kansas City won two of three games from the White Sox in Chicago last month, but lost 12 of the 18 encounters between the divisional foes in 2008.