AP Baseball Preview: White Sox at Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Interstat) — The Tampa Bay Rays host the Chicago White Sox on Friday at 7:10 p.m. at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. The forecast calls for 80 degrees and rain.

Tampa Bay (64-44) enters holding a seven-game lead in the American League East, while Chicago (57-51) sits in third place in the AL Central, 4½ games behind division-leading Cleveland.

The Rays have won three consecutive meetings against the White Sox this season, sweeping a three-game set in Chicago from April 14-16.

Left-hander Shane McClanahan (11-4, 2.98 ERA) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. In his most recent outing July 30 against Texas, McClanahan threw three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out three in a 3-2 victory. Over his past four starts, McClanahan is 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA, striking out 14 across 19⅓ innings.

Right-hander Sean Burke (9-5, 3.01 ERA) gets the nod for Chicago. Burke is coming off a dominant performance July 30, allowing three hits over six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a 2-1, 11-inning win against the New York Yankees. The victory extended Burke’s strong run: he has won four of his past five decisions, posting a 0.86 ERA over that span with 45 strikeouts in 31⅔ innings.

Tampa Bay took two of three from Texas earlier this week, including a 3-2 victory Thursday. The Rays’ bullpen has been particularly effective, allowing one earned run over 9⅔ innings in the series.

Chicago split a four-game set with the Yankees, winning the finale 2-1 in extra innings Thursday. The White Sox have won seven of their past 10 games, including series victories against Houston and Texas.

The Rays lead the season series 3-0. Tampa Bay has outscored Chicago 21-11 in those games.

Interstate’s game simulator projects a 7-5 Tampa Bay victory. The Rays are installed as -1.5 run-line favorites, with the over/under set at 8.

Following Friday’s contest, the teams play again Saturday and Sunday at George Steinbrenner Field before the Rays embark on a six-game road trip to Colorado and Seattle. Chicago travels to Boston for a three-game set starting Tuesday.