Gamethread: Rays at White Sox

The South Siders hope to even up the series against the best in the AL

Tonight, the White Sox aim to rebound from Monday’s close loss, in the second game of the marquee series. The Tampa Bay Rays (43-24) extended their lead for the top record in the American League last night, but the White Sox (41-25) are 1 ¹⁄₂ games behind.

Tuesday is a battle between two very different left-handed starters, with Dallas Keuchel getting the start for the White Sox. Keuchel (4.14 ERA, 4.60 FIP) is coming off back-to-back, strong, six-inning outings, including a season-high eight strikeouts in his last start against Toronto. Despite not being known as a strikeout pitcher, Keuchel has a chance to improve on his 13.6 strikeout percentage against the Rays, who lead the major leagues with 704 strikeouts. That said, the Rays rank 19th in ground ball rate (43%) this year.

For Tampa Bay, Top 100 prospect Shane McClanahan (4.54 ERA, 4.04 FIP) makes his ninth career start. The 24-year old has lasted five or more innings in only three starts, failing to get out of the fourth in both of his last two starts. McClanahan has yet to throw more than 80 pitches this season, so the Rays bullpen could be in for another heavy workload. McClanahan relies on his slider (41.9% usage) and 4-seam fastball (40.3%), as his fastball sits at 97 mph and his slider/changeup both are 90 mph.

Here are today’s lineups:

The White Sox also announced second baseman Nick Madrigal will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his torn right hamstring. He is expected to return next spring.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. CST, and NBC Sports Chicago will have your TV coverage. As usual, WMVP 1000 AM and WRTO 1200 AM will have your radio coverage. Chrystal O’Keefe is on for the Six Pack of Stats.