Gamethread: Rays at White Sox

Well, White Sox fans — the boys are back in town! And if their 7-18 record doesn’t excite you, then maybe baseball’s best, Tampa Bay Rays (20-5), will?

The White Sox will face the Rays for the second time in just one week, and we can send a big thank you to Rob Manfred for ensuring the nail will be in the White Sox’s coffin before we even reach the month of May. While the South Side talent might not be up to par, we will still get a spectacular hurling rematch between Dylan Cease and Shane McClanahan.

Cease has pretty much been his lights-out, Cy Young-competing self for the majority of this season, keeping his ERA at a 3.00 or below for his first four starts. His previous start against the Rays yielded three runs on six hits over his four innings, his shortest outing of the year. But it was against the Rays, and considering the damage they have been doing to the rest of the league, we can let that one outing slide (for now). He has posted a 2.73 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in his 26 1⁄3 innings, and really is our only hope, because what else are we supposed to watch with this team? They haven’t scored a run since Monday.

Pedro Grifol pens in Andrew Benintendi as the leadoff man today, shifting Luis Robert Jr. to the 3-spot, and finally pulling Romy González out of the lineup. I’m sure he then looked to Rick Hahn to say “Please somebody, score a run today, for the love of God.” Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate, and he has been looking like his old 2021 self, after arguably his worst year offensively. Our best hope is that if Jake Burger drops a 450-foot Burger bomb out to left, there is actually a runner or two on base.

Let’s see how they’ll be lined up today:

Shane McClanahan is having a truly exceptional year so far, giving up just six runs, with a 1.86 ERA over 29 innings. The lefty has a strong strikeout rate, as well as a .179 xBA ... AKA batters have a very hard time getting a hit off of him. This should be a treat for any fans who attend the game tonight, after going scoreless in so many consecutive innings.

And for the Rays lineup:

First pitch is at 6:10 p.m. Central, broadcasted at NBCSC and AM 1000 for the radio coverage. Will the White Sox finally score a run? Stay tuned to find out!