ALDS: White Sox-Rays preview

The Chicago White Sox pulled off a bit of history to advance to the postseason with three must wins in the final three days of the season against three different teams, including a one-game playoff over the Minnesota Twins. Now the Chicago pitching staff is a little gassed entering a whole new situation, for both the home team and the visitors.

The White Sox might be a little tired, or they could pick up where they left off, like the Colorado Rockies did last year. Even they're surprised they're here. Meanwhile, nobody is really sure what to expect when the Tampa Bay Rays play their first playoff game on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field. The Rays were the cute little story that sprouted legs and ran all season, one of the most surprising division winners in baseball history. Tampa Bay is one of the youngest teams to ever make the playoffs, with the limited postseason experience coming from a batch of role players.

The Rays have the home-field edge, and that's huge. The Rays were 57-24 at Tropicana Field, the best home record in the majors in 2008. They'll count on their home fans in their bandbox dome to create an advantage.

The Rays are the second team in American League history to advance to the playoffs a year after finishing in last place. The other? The 1991 Minnesota Twins, who won it all.

Hitting: Tampa Bay has a nice young lineup, and get perhaps their best all-around talent back for the playoffs in outfielder Carl Crawford (.273, 8 HR, 57 RBI, 25 SB). But for all their nice young hitters, their team average was among the worst in the league at .260. No regular has a batting average better than .300. But they have seemed to come through with the big hits at big times. Just about every memeber of the White Sox has been in many postseason pressure situations before, and veterans such as Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski and Ken Griffey Jr. could be tough outs. Edge: White Sox.

Pitching: The White Sox had to use John Danks in the one-game playoff, leaving the Game 1 assignment to Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67), who is not a prototype Game 1 pitcher. Lefty Mark Buehrle (15-12, 3.79) will go in Game 2 (and likely Game 5 if necessary), and the two White Sox young guns - Gavin Floyd (17-8, 3.84) and Danks (12-9, 3.32) - are scheduled to throw in Chicago, which should calm their nerves. The Rays are rested and ready, and the first two starters will be the key to the series. James Shields (14-8, 3.56) and Scott Kazmir (12-8, 3.48) will throw in St. Petersburg for the Rays, and youngsters Matt Garza (11-9, 3.70) and Andy Sonnanstine (13-9, 4.38) will throw in Chicago. Edge: Rays.

Bullpen: The White Sox have the best closer in Bobby Jenks (3-1, 2.64, 30 saves), but the Rays have the better overall depth. One of the challenges that Rays manager Joe Maddon will have to solve is at closer. Troy Percival (2-1, 4.53, 28 saves) is back, but wasn't effective before he was injured. Dan Wheeler (5-6, 3.12, 13 saves) was the choice down the stretch. The wild card will be left-hander David Price (0-0, 1.93), the No. 1 overall pick in 2007 who could be a very key player as a left-handed matchup guy. You can bet he'll be thrown in there against lefties Thome, Griffey and Pierzynski in key situations. Grant Balfour (6-2, 1.54) has been great in a setup role. Edge: Rays.

Prediction: Rays in 4.

Schedule

• Game 1: Thursday, Oct. 2, Chicago at Tampa Bay, 2:30 p.m. EDT (TBS)
• Game 2: Friday, Oct. 3, Chicago at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m. EDT (TBS)
• Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 5, Tampa Bay at Chicago, time TBA (TBS)
• Game 4: Monday, Oct. 6, Tampa Bay at Chicago, time TBA (TBS)*
• Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 8, Chicago at Tampa Bay, time TBA (TBS)*

*-if necessary

Links to all playoff coverage in Playoff Central. And check out photo galleries and stats for the White Sox and Rays.