Chicago @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 8, 2014 ) Chi. White Sox 8, Boston 3

Chicago ace Chris Sale likely will find his way onto the American League All-Star roster, but he'll try to remain sharp in his final audition when the White Sox visit the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in the third contest of a four-game series. "It’s an honor to be thought of in any way,'' Sale, among the five AL players competing in the final vote, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I’m not much of a self-promoter. I’ll let my teammates have fun with it.’’ If Sale doesn't win the vote, he probably would take the spot of New York's Masahiro Tanaka, who is scheduled to start Sunday night and therefore would not be eligible to pitch in the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Rubby De La Rosa will be recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket and take the ball for last-place Boston (39-51), which fell to 1-7 on its 10-game homestand following an 8-3 loss Tuesday. Conor Gillaspie returned to the lineup for the White Sox after missing Monday's contest with a bruised right knee and fell a triple shy of the cycle while belting a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Jose Abreu - who has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games - continued his impressive rookie season with three hits. The White Sox (44-47) outscored opponents 25-9 while winning five of their last six but still are 7 1/2 games behind Detroit in the American League Central.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, CSN (Chicago), NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Chris Sale (8-1, 2.16 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Rubby De La Rosa (2-2, 2.51)

Left-handed batters are hitting .121 in 2014 against Sale, who pitched a six-hitter while striking out a season-high 12 in a 7-1 victory over Seattle on Friday. "I knew I was probably going to throw a few sliders (Friday) more than normal, but that's about it," Sale told reporters after realizing the Mariners' lineup featured six lefties. Sale, who has 96 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings this season, received a no-decision after allowing one run and fanning 10 in Chicago's 3-1 loss to Boston on April 17.

De La Rosa has appeared in five games for Boston and is 2-0 in two home starts while allowing five hits and striking out 11 in 14 scoreless innings. The 25-year-old Dominican pitched one inning for Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday before “we took him out so he would be a candidate (to pitch Wednesday), for sure,” Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters. De La Rosa, who received a no-decision in his last major-league start when he struck out seven and yielded one run and four hits in seven innings of Boston's 2-1 loss at Oakland on June 21, would fill a void caused by Saturday's doubleheader after Friday's game was rained out.

WALK-OFFS

1. To make room for De La Rosa, Boston likely will demote utilityman Mookie Betts, who hit .174 in six games since making his Red Sox debut on June 29.

2. The Red Sox (39-51) have a run differential of minus-55 - it was plus-89 after 90 games (54-36) last season - and are being outscored 48-26 on the homestand.

3. Boston 3B Xander Bogaerts, who was hitting .304 on June 3 before going 12-for-107 in 28 games since to drop his average to .239, has three RBIs in his last 17 games but two in his last three.

PREDICTION: White Sox 3, Red Sox 2