White Sox Preview: ALDS Rematch Vs. Tampa Bay Rays (Continued)

If you missed the first part of this two part preview, you can read the preview for games 1 and 2 here.

Game 3 will see an interesting match up, the White Sox will have lefty Mark Buerhle, while the Rays will fight back with their lefty Scott Kazmir. Mark Buerhle is coming off a great start in Minnesota, leaving in the 7th only giving up 2 hits and 1 run to earn the victory. Mark is off to a great start this season, 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA. His combination of different pitches last week makes him look like the dominant All Star Game starter he was in 2005. Buerhle is 6-2 with an ERA over 4 against the Rays. He and the White Sox will be facing Scott Kazmir, who is off to a great start as well, having faced two tough Yankees and Red Sox teams, and coming off victorious in both, while posting an ERA under 3, 2.84 to be exact. Kazmir has a 1-0 record with an ERA under 3 in 2 starts against the White Sox last year. This game has a great pitching matchup, the game will depend on Mark Buerlhe using every pitch to his advantage and try not to get into any jams early that will plague him for the rest of the game. He will also have to work fast like he usually does, it would be nice to see him pitch another 99 minute game he once did against the Mariners in 06. The game will also depend on White Sox hitters to not swing and strikeout on Kazmirs signature pitch, his slider. White Sox hitters, like Dye, Fields, and Thome love to swing at sliders, and that is mainly the pitch they strike out on. But with a lefty on the mound, it will be up to the righties in the lineup to drive in runs. I would assume Ozzie would sit Thome out this game because of a lefty starting.

The final and last game in the series will be an interesting one. Both teams will have two righties on the mound, Gavin Floyd for the White Sox, and Matt Garza for the Rays. Gavin Floyd is off to a shaky start, he's 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He just pitched last Monday against Detroit where he picked up his only victory of the season, because of the White Sox's powering offense. Gavin pitched a little over 5 innings, with 6 earned runs, 7 walks, and 5 hits. His first start of the year against the Royals was very impressive nonetheless. He pitched a great 7 innings, with 2 runs earned and 9 strikeouts, but still got the loss. His only time ever facing the Rays was game 4 of the ALDS where the Rays won to clinch a spot to play in the ALCS. He will face Matt Garza, who's 1-0 this season with a 1.93 ERA. He's off to a great start, but is 1-1 against the White Sox lifetime, with a high 4.97 ERA. The keys to the game for the White Sox for this series is for Gavin to control his curveball, which is extremely impressive, when accurate. The pitch literally looks like a whiffle ball curveball, he just cant control it well enough and its a really difficult pitch to pitch often. If Gavin can control the game with his curveball, and the White Sox can pick up a few runs, we should hopefully see a victory.

Stay tuned for exclusive coverage of Fridays game between the Chicago White Sox Vs. The Tampa Bay Rays, only from Sox Squared. -James (White Sox Writer)