Rays-White Sox: An Inside Look

Oct 1, 2008 - 10:04 AM By Chris Bellamy PA SportsTicker Staff Writer

The Tampa Bay Rays were everybody's darling. Now, they have made the transition from sentimental favorite to contender.

While the Rays have been playing at a high level for most of the season, their opponents, the Chicago White Sox, stumbled into the playoffs with a porous final week of the regular season, finally clinching a spot with a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Tuesday's one-game playoff.

Here is a preview of the American League Division Series between the Rays and White Sox, which begins Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Probable pitching matchups:

Game One: James Shields (14-8, 3.56 ERA) vs. Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67)

Game Two: Scott Kazmir (12-8, 3.49) vs. Mark Buehrle (15-12, 3.79)

Game Three: Matt Garza (11-9, 3.70) vs. Gavin Floyd (17-8, 3.84)

Probable starters:

CHICAGO

C A.J. Pierzynski

1B Paul Konerko

2B Alexei Ramirez

3B Juan Uribe

SS Orlando Cabrera

LF Dewayne Wise/Nick Swisher

CF Ken Griffey Jr.

RF Jermaine Dye

DH Jim Thome

TAMPA BAY

C Dioner Navarro

1B Carlos Pena

2B Akinori Iwamura

3B Evan Longoria

SS Jason Bartlett

LF Carl Crawford/Eric Hinske

CF B.J. Upton

RF Gabe Gross/Eric Hinske

DH Rocco Baldelli/Cliff Floyd

Season Series: The Rays won six of 10 meetings. ... Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Longoria added some much-needed punch into the Rays' lineup, but he didn't provide much of anything against the White Sox, hitting .120 (3-for-25) against them with one RBI ... Three of the Rays' top starters, lefthander Kazmir and righthanders Shields and Andy Sonnanstine, dominated the White Sox, combining to go 2-0 over six starts with a 2.48 ERA ... Sonnanstine threw a three-hit shutout against the White Sox on August 19 at Tropicana Field, striking out four and walking one ... The White Sox won't be able to use one of their biggest Ray-killers until late in the series, as righthander John Danks tossed eight innings in Tuesday's one-game playoff. Against the Rays, he was 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA, striking out 20 in 19 1/3 innings.

Keys to the series:

1) The always-overstated clash between experience and raw talent. Every year, it seems, a team that's been there before and seen it all takes on a team loaded with talent but with no playoff clout. The White Sox still have key players remaining from the 2005 squad that won it all - and they've added the likes of Orlando Cabrera - who won a title with the Red Sox in 2004 - and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. The Rays, however, have a whole different makeup. Their biggest playoff veteran is closer Troy Percival, who was the then-Anaheim Angels' closer when they won the World Series in 2002, and a few of their role players - Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske, for example - have been in a playoff series or two. But the club is made up primarily of postseason neophytes. Does that matter? As much as people try to make an absolute case, there's no definitive answer. The Rays have had some of the most promising pure, raw talent in baseball for the last few years, but only now has it manifested itself in success. They've already made one giant leap - time will tell if they can make another.

2) Can David Price make an impact? Certainly, Percival remembers this scenario. When he helped lead the Angels to a championship six years ago, it was a young fireballer named Francisco Rodriguez that turned heads, as he came out of obscurity to go 5-1 with an 1.93 ERA in 11 appearances that October. Some have hypothesized that David Price, the first overall draft pick of the 2007 draft, could have the same kind of impact for the Rays. The 6-6, 225-pound lefthander made a rapid rise through the minor league system this season and appeared in five games, including one start. The results? No decisions, but an impressive 1.93 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 14 innings. Though he is at a disadvantage in the experience department, the advantage he brings is that few opposing hitters will know much about him.

3) Can the White Sox continue to produce runs without Carlos Quentin? The Chicago offense was noticeably different when Quentin went down with a wrist injury in early September. Up until that point, he was considered the leading MVP candidate in the American League. While the White Sox snuck into the playoffs, their offense will have to rely heavily on the increasingly creaky Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey Jr. Whether they can shoulder the load for a deep October run will be a major X-factor for the Sox, who don't expect Quentin to be back this series but are hopeful he may be able to return at some point, should the team advance.

They said it: "I could make a book just on this year," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said, offering a title for the tome: "How the Heck We In (Expletive) First Place?"

Prediction: Rays in three.