The Rays had the 2nd best record in the American League after the regular season. The White Sox barely crept into the playoffs, requiring a one-game play off against the Twins. However, none of that matters when each team takes the field on Thursday.
The Rays have beaten the White Sox in 6 of 10 meetings this year, and the key to this season will be similar to most postseason series, the pitching. The Rays have the 3rd best team ERA in all of baseball, and their pitching has been solid from top to bottom this season. They will start James Shields (14-8, 3.56) in game 1, against Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67) for the White Sox. Scott Kazmir is the Rays' ace, and will go in game 2 on Friday against Mark Buerhle.Although the Rays are inexperienced, their performance level this year has been much better than the White Sox. They finished the season 8 games better, and did so in a much tougher division.
Prediction: Rays in 4. Their playoff inexperience may eventually catch up with them, but it won't be against the White Sox, who are fortunate enough to have made it this far.
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