As bad as the White Sox have played this season they are surprisingly only five games out of the lead in the AL Central. With so many divisional games left, the race is anything but over. If the Sox do have playoff aspirations they need to start winning series within the division and what better time to start than this weekend against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians have been one of the better success stories in all of baseball this season. A team picked by most to finish last in the AL Central, finds themself only a half game out of first on July 22nd. The White Sox however haven't had any troubles with the Tribe in 2011. Coming in to Friday's game the Sox are 4-1 against Cleveland this season.
Gavin Floyd will get the start in game one for the Sox. Floyd comes in with a 7-9 record and an ERA of 4.37. In his previous start, Floyd was dominant beating Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers allowing just one run in seven and two-thirds. The Sox righty is 5-3 with an ERA of 4.88 in nine career starts against the Indians.
Cleveland will send Carlos Carrasco to the mound Friday. Carrasco is 8-7 with an ERA of 4.25. The Indians righty is coming off a tough loss to the Orioles in which he allowed only three runs in seven innings of work. In his last outing against the Sox, Carrasco gave up seven runs on ten hits in six and two-thirds innings of work.
The forecast at the time of first pitch in Cleveland is temps near 90 with a chance of storms. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 CST. The game can be seen on CSN.