Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox

It did not take the upstart Tampa Bay Rays long to oust the veteran Chicago White Sox in four games in the American League Divisional series last year.

The Chicago White Sox (47-44) possessed several players who were World Series champions in 2005, while the Rays (51-41) were making the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

As it turned out, Chicago was just a minor bump on the road on Tampa Bay’s march to the World Series, but the four-game regular season series, which begins Monday at U.S. Cellular Field, figures to be much more competitive.

Both teams are on rolls. The White Sox dusted off the Baltimore Orioles by winning two of three to open the second half. They gained two full games on the first-place Detroit Tigers as they were busy being swept by the New York Yankees in the Bronx over the weekend.

Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays moved to 10 games over the .500 mark for the first time this season as they swept the Kansas City Royals in three road games over the weekend to pull within 4 ½ games of the first place Boston Red Sox and 3 ½ of the wild-card leading Yankees.

Neither team had really established themselves when they met for four games in St. Petersburg in mid-April as the Chicago White Sox took advantage of a team apparently suffering from a World Series hangover to win three of four games in the series.

They will turn to David Price (3-3, 4.70) for his first start in the second half. Price had a very solid first half in his rookie campaign, including a masterful performance which saw Price allowed one run on six hits over seven innings in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on July 9.

Price, however, has been rocky on the road, posting an 0-2 record with a 7.27 ERA in four road starts.

Chicago will turn to Gavin Floyd (7-6, 4.44), who has been struggling in recent starts, including allowing five runs on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings in an 8-7 win over the Minnesota Twins on July 11. Those five runs were part of 10 that he has allowed over his last two starts spanning 13 innings.

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