Tampa Bay @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 20, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 1, Chi. White Sox 4

Mark Buehrle won't forget the last time he faced Tampa Bay. Neither will the Rays. Buehrle pitched a perfect game on July 23, 2009 against the Rays at U.S. Cellular Field. Tampa Bay's talented lineup was no match for the left-hander that day. Buehrle struck out six, threw 116 pitches and finished off the Rays in a snappy 2 hours, 3 minutes for the 18th perfect game in major league history. Buehrle takes the mound against the same team in the same park on Wednesday night. The Chicago White Sox don't need a perfect game this time. A win - any kind of win - will do. A victory would give Chicago wins in back-to-back games for only the second time this season after John Danks pitched the Sox to a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. As has been the case many times this season for Chicago's starting pitchers, Buehrle was the vicitm of a lack of run support in his last start against the Cleveland Indians. He gave up three runs, all of which came in the fourth, in six innings, but went down to defeat as his teammates scored only twice against career minor leaguer Mitch Talbot. Buehrle is unhappy over the fact his usual pinpoint control has escaped him early in the season. He has walked seven and struck out seven in 21 innings. Not surprisingly, very few Rays' hitters have had much success against Buehrle. Carlos Pena is the only Tampa Bay regular with a home run and has struck out 11 times in 40 at-bats. Carlos Crawford is batting .429 (12-for-28) while B.J. Upton is hitting .300 (6-for-20). Evan Longoria is 2-for-12 (.167) lifetime against Buehrle. Buehrle is pitching on his regular four days rest, as are Chicago's other starters in this series. Freddy Garcia, who has pitched poorly in both of his starts, has been pushed back to Saturday. The Rays had their seven-game winning streak ended and lost their first road game Tuesday. Danks' performance is even more impressive considering Tampa Bay scored 15 runs in its last two games against the Boston Red Sox. Wade Davis is coming off a start against Boston that produced mixed results. The 6-foot-5 right-hander gave up one run on Jason Varitek's homer and two hits, but walked four and had to be yanked after the fifth because he threw 104 pitches. Davis got a no-decision in a game that was suspended by rain and the Rays won the following day in 12 innings on Pat Burrell's home run. Davis will be making his first career start against the White Sox.