Chicago @ Philadelphia Preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 20, 2016 ) Chi. White Sox 6, Philadelphia 7

The exciting thing for the Philadelphia Phillies over the last few weeks of the regular season is seeing the players they hope will lead the team in the future begin to emerge. The Phillies will try to ride their young bats to a series sweep when they host the Chicago White Sox in the finale of a two-game interleague set on Wednesday.

Philadelphia has spent the season integrating young players into the major leagues and center fielder Odubel Herrera, who got his feet wet in his 2015 rookie campaign, has emerged as a leader of the bunch. The 24-year-old Venezuelan bashed his 15th home run among three hits in Tuesday's 7-6 win and is 15-for-28 with six RBIs and nine runs scored in the last seven games. The White Sox are fading fast with losses in four straight and are seeing their odds of finishing with a winning record grow longer with each setback. Chicago (72-79) has watched its pitching staff surrender 25 runs in the last three games and has a three-game series at American League Central-leading Cleveland looming over the weekend.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Chris Sale (16-8, 3.03 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jerad Eickhoff (10-14, 3.74)

Sale notched his major league-leading sixth complete game and went at least eight frames for the sixth straight start when he allowed four runs - three earned - and eight hits while striking out 10 at Kansas City on Friday. The Florida native got enough run support to snap a four-start winless streak in that turn and has 30 strikeouts in 25 innings over his last three outings. Sale is seeing Philadelphia for the first time in his career and is 6-3 with a 2.80 ERA in interleague play.

Eickhoff extended his streak of quality starts to five against Pittsburgh on Thursday but still absorbed a loss. The 26-year-old was only charged with three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings but was reached for four home runs among five hits after going three straight starts without surrendering a blast. Eickhoff started at the White Sox on Aug. 24 and earned a win while yielding two runs and four hits in six innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Phillies 1B Tommy Joseph is 10-for-20 with seven runs scored in his last six games.

2. Chicago 3B Todd Frazier has hit safely in five straight games and scored four runs in that span.

3. Philadelphia RHP and closer Jeanmar Gomez allowed a total of six runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings over his last three appearances.

PREDICTION: White Sox 3, Phillies 1