Gamethread: White Sox at Rays

Happy Sunday! The Chicago White Sox will face the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in the series finale as they look to avoid the sweep and get a win. After two hard-fought and close games that ended in heartbreaking fashion, it would be nice to steal a game back this afternoon.

Lucas Giolito will be on the mound for the South Siders, coming off of the best appearance of the season for anyone on the team, and has showed signs of consistency as of late. In game two of the doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, he threw six no-hit innings with just one walk and seven strikeouts. If he throws three no-hit innings today, can we just add it to the end of that game and call it a no-hitter?

In all honestly, Giolito is looking solid right now. If he can continue getting decent movement on his pitches and keep his pitch count down (which was the reason he got pulled early from last game), there’s a good chance for a win when he’s on the mound. Maybe I just jinxed it, but hey, we’re desperate over here.

The team will face righty Zach Eflin. He is currently 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA and 1.18 WHIP on the season. He last pitches against Oakland, where he went six innings with nine hits, three runs, and seven strikeouts.

Eflin prior to this season had spent his entire career with the Phillies. The 29-year-old finalized a three-year deal with the Rays this offseason for $40 million, actually making it the largest deal in Tampa Bay history for a free agent. Yes, you read that right. $40 million is the largest. Tampa Bay is just doing something incredibly right. Eflin relies on six pitches, starting with his sinker that he throws 33.3% of the time. He follows with a cutter (28.8%), curveball (23.1%), changeup (7.7%), slider (5.1%), and fastball (1.9%).

Luis Robert Jr. will lead it off, followed by Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn. Eloy Jiménez looks to add another home run, as does Gavin Sheets as he is back in the outfield. Jake Burger is at third and Elvis Andrus is at shortstop. Yasmani Grandal gets the day off, which is a shame considering he has been hitting well, and Seby Zavala will take his place behind the plate. Lenyn Sosa closes it out at second base.

Game time is at 12:40 p.m. CT back on NBCSCHI. Listen in at ESPN1000. If you want to do any of those things. If not, I don’t blame you.