Chicago has dropped six of its past seven games, including a 6-5 setback against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. The White Sox’s five runs in the loss can be considered an offensive explosion from a club that had mustered just 11 total runs over the previous six games.

A bright spot for Chicago — which ranks last in the American League in batting average (.216), on-base percentage (.286) and slugging percentage (.332) — has been rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth. The 23-year-old leadoff man is riding a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .301 on the season.

“He’s had really good swings. He’s on time,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Meidroth. “Obviously he continues to select good pitches to swing at, and he’s putting them forward with authority. So just a really nice job of continuing to learn this league, learn himself and perform at a high level.”

Chicago’s Sean Burke (2-5, 4.69 ERA) will make his 10th start (11th appearance) of the season on Friday. Burke surrendered six runs, five earned, on seven hits in his 4 2/3 inning-stint against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, taking a 7-3 loss. Making the 13th start and 15 appearance of his major league career, Burke will be facing the Rangers for the first time.

Texas continues its six-game road trip on Friday, aiming to snap a four-game losing streak. The Rangers were swept this week by the New York Yankees, plating just five runs across the three games, including a 1-0 loss on Thursday afternoon.

“You’ve got to deal with these little streaks you go through,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’ve gone through a few of them now this year. … It’ll get turned around. You’ve got to keep the guys going and they’re trying, trust me. You’ve got no choice, so you’ve got to keep pushing.”

One major change in the Rangers’ lineup on Thursday was the removal of Adolis Garcia from the cleanup spot. Garcia, who’s batting .215 with 49 strikeouts in 50 games, was moved down in the order to seventh and went 0-for-3 with a whiff in the loss.

Garcia is 2-for-21 (.095) with no RBIs in his past six games.

“It’s just an attempt to relax him,” Bochy said. “Hopefully this gets him going again. He had been on a nice little run, but he’s in a bit of a funk right now.”

Keeping the Rangers afloat has been a pitching staff that boasts a 3.26 ERA — third best in the majors.

Tyler Mahle (5-1, 1.47 ERA) will look to extend his dazzling start to the season in the series opener on Friday.

The 30-year-old right-hander is tied for the third-lowest ERA in the majors, and he enters his 11th start of the season riding consecutive victories. Mahle allowed just one run across six innings in a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday.

Mahle is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in two career starts against the White Sox.

–Field Level Media