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. 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It took a kangaroo court in Moscow, coupled with a few beers, to forge the unity in Great Britains mens Sevens side, but then it was always going to take something a little different.Bringing together three nations under one umbrella in a limited amount of time, for what they hope will be a medal charge at the Rio Olympic Games, is no easy task.The final 12-man squad who will be working together was confirmed on Tuesday, bringing an end to a seven-week spell where the original 25-man party attempted to force their way into the final cut.After meeting as a group for the first time on May 30, head coach Simon Amors immediate focus was to mould a new Team GB culture as he threw together players from England, Scotland and Wales, who were used to treating each other as the opposition on the World Rugby Sevens Series stage.It was a case of going head first into the deep end.They met on the Monday at The Lensbury hotel in Teddington and by the following Saturday they were playing, as a team, in Moscow.It was the proverbial race against time to find common ground in the game plan and an on and off-field understanding in their first tournament under the banner of Great Britain.After their two teams the Lions and Royals finished in third and fifth respectively, the coaches allowed the players some breathing room and a chance to bond away from the training field.That night in Moscow, in a bar hired out by the management, the players socialised in the old-fashioned style and any barriers over national identity were broken down.But it took the form of a kangaroo court where individuals from England, Scotland and Wales took charge and administered fines to players who had broken in-house rules.That got us closer together as a squad, Dan Bibby said. All the things you thought were on the sly came up and you found out little things about each other which was fun.In terms of the social side of it, it definitely helped. I think we have forged bonds now and that has continued. It feels like we have been together for years and its like were our own team now.Boys go out for coffee on days off or meals with girlfriends as couples.The court session was straight from the British & Irish Lions textbook on how to build bridges. The remarkable documentary which covered the 1997 tour showed one of the kangaroo courts in all its glory with Irelannd hooker Keith Wood administering alcohol-based punishments to various perpetrators, ably aided by England lock Simon Shaw and Wales fullback Neil Jenkins.ddddddddddddThere is more than just a hint of the Lions environment and circumstance about this group and outside help has been sought. Team GBs assistant coach Gareth Williams, whose full-time job sees him take charge of Wales Sevens side, picked Warren Gatlands brains over what he learned from the two Lions tours he has coached on while Amor turned to ex-England footballer Stuart Pearce to hear about his experiences of coaching Team GBs team in 2012.The approach worked, friendships have formed within the group. Wales James Davies and Englands Ollie Lindsay-Hague, according to Bibby, have moulded their own secret handshake with Marcus Watson revealing Davies refers to himself as the cub and Lindsay-Hague carrying the nickname of the swan.But then came the brutal reality of turning a 25-man party into 12. The players found out the final squad on Jul. 11 but stayed together as a group with those left out helping battle-harden those who made the cut and then came Monday, Jul. 18, where a message was sent to those players who missed out on selection asking them to hand back their training kit. Watson admits it was sad to see some of the boys go, adding everyone has got on really well.It was always going to be a hard task for Amor, given he was not given the same opportunity to draft in proven internationals from 15s as other countries to assess how fare in Sevens, but he is adamant that does not put them at a disadvantage.But their game time leading into the Games as Great Britain will be at a premium. The other favourites for the title have had the World Sevens Series together while the three components of Team GB competed separately, but despite their rushed accord, Amor has no fears over their prospects at Rio.If Great Britain could have competed in the World Series then you can test everyone at that level, Amor said. That wasnt an option for us and we have done the next best option.I am delighted with what we have done in these six or seven or weeks. I am confident this group can do something incredibly special. They are that talented. 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