by Chuck Sommers
Friday, Aug 20, 2021
Game time: 1:10 p.m. ET
Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
Where to watch: NBCSCH, Bally Sports Sun
Season-to-date (entering Friday)
White Sox: 71-51 (1st place, AL Central)
Rays: 75-47 (1st place, AL East)
Recent form
White Sox: 5-5 in last 10
Rays: 7-3 in last 10, won four straight
Projected lineup
White Sox:
Cesar Hernandez (S) 2B
Luis Robert (R) CF
Jose Abreu (R) DH
Eloy Jimenez (R) LF
Andrew Vaughn (R) 1B
Yoan Moncada (S) 3B
Brian Goodwin (L) RF
Danny Mendick (R) SS
Zack Collins (L) C
Rays:
Brandon Lowe (L) 2B
Wander Franco (S) SS
Nelson Cruz (R) DH
Austin Meadows (L) LF
Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B
Randy Arozarena (R) RF
Joey Wendle (L) 3B
Francisco Mejia (S) C
Brett Phillips (L) CF
Probable starting pitchers: Dallas Keuchel (CWS) vs. Luis Patino (TB)
Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Rays -130, White Sox +110
BetMGM: Rays -125, White Sox +105
FanDuel: Rays -136, White Sox +116
Tom Stryker is on a 44-21 stretch with his MLB picks. Catch the rest of Tom’s picks and the rest of our MLB Best Bets at our Shop Picks page, where you can find all of today's entire Major League Baseball premium pick predictions.
White Sox - Rays preview
The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox will continue their highly-anticipated three-game series Saturday for Game 2 at Tropicana Field.
Not a bad start to the series for this one. Despite a three-run eighth inning that got the Rays back in it, the White Sox rallied yet again to win 7-5 in 11 innings to take the first game on Friday.
The White Sox have been known as the Cardiac Kids for the past month. This time, it was Tampa Bay’s turn to deliver the goods.
It wasn’t looking good for the Rays through five innings. Starter Michael Wacha had nine strikeouts, but the White Sox tagged Wacha for four earned runs, including a home run from Yoan Moncada.
Tampa Bay battled back with a two-run single from Austin Meadows to give the Rays a 5-4 lead after eight.
Then came Tim Anderson, bringing the Field of Dreams magic to Tropicana Field. Anderson, the White Sox leadoff hitter blasted a solo homer into the Friday night magic to tie the game, then drove in his second RBI and scored himself in the 11th to propel the White Sox.
Unfortunately for the White Sox, they wasted a gem from Lucas Giolito with eight strikeouts over seven innings.
Dallas Keuchel will get the call on the mound for the White Sox. He enters at 8-6 with a 4.48 ERA, someone who will be relied on heavily to have good starts for Chicago in August.
The Rays will send Luis Patino to the mound to face Keuchel. Tampa Bay looked to run out of gas on Friday, which now put their advantage over the New York Yankees to a four-game lead in the American League East. The Yankees extended their winning streak to eight games after taking the first two of the four-game series at home against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday and Friday.
Don’t fool yourselves into thinking a sweep is coming. None of these teams are the Baltimore Orioles. Should the Rays win on Saturday, the series finale at the Trop should be electric
Betting trends
The White Sox are 5-2 (+3.1) when Keuchel starts against a team with a winning percentage of .540 to .620.
Prediction
The competitiveness in this series is going to be awesome, and it just doesn’t sit right if the Rays don’t even this up. Rays win 7-6.
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert baseball picks today. And if you enjoyed these Chicago White Sox - Tampa Bay Rays predictions, be sure to drop by every day for our daily MLB projections and previews.
Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
