On Deck: Chicago White Sox

On Deck will be here all season to provide you with everything you need to know (and a few things you don't) about every Rangers series during the 2015 season.

The Opponent: The White Sox are floundering at the moment, having lost seven of their last 10 games, and are squarely in last place in the AL Central despite some big offseason acquisitions. Now, manager Robin Ventura is getting closer and closer that dreaded hot seat.

Past 2015 Meetings: The Rangers took two of three from the White Sox earlier this month in a series that also marked the debut of Joey Gallo.

Pitching Matchups: Friday -- Colby Lewis (6-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (6-3, 3.01); Saturday -- Nick Martinez (5-2, 2.76) vs. TBD; Sunday -- Yovani Gallardo (6-6, 3.16) vs. Carlos Quintana (3-7, 4.03)

What's Hot: Rougned Odor is back in the Rangers' lineup, and he's back in a big way. He returned this week from a stint in the minors with a newfound plate approach and he's batting .500 with four RBIs in three games since his return. Robinson Chirinos is batting .353 over the last five games, including a big walkoff home run on Tuesday night. Yovani Gallardo tossed seven scoreless innings on Monday night against the Dodgers.

Melky Cabrera is leading the way for a stagnant White Sox offense over the past week, as the outfielder is hitting .346 over the last seven games. Adam Eaton, who homered earlier this month against Texas, is batting .333 over the last week. Sale thoroughly dominated the Rangers earlier this month and is coming off a pretty decent outing last time out when he went 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs with 12 strikeouts.

What's Not: In his last seven games, Joey Gallo has three hits. Of course, in Joey Gallo fashion, all three of those hits left the yard. Of course, his best game as big leaguer to date came against these White Sox, so maybe he'll get back on track. Leonys Martin is batting .174 with seven strikeouts in his past seven games.