The Thursday schedule in Major League Baseball is an intriguing one. Most of the games on tap are the conclusions to midweek series, but there are two four-game weekend series which begin on the same day. Those two series will be looked at here.

MLB Baseball: Cleveland Indians @ Chicago White Sox - Thursday

The start of a four-game series on the South side of Chicago will be an important one for the White Sox. The Pale Hose lost 17 of 19 games to the Indians last season. That’s just about unheard of in a season-long series. Just about every team will manage to win four games in a 19-game head-to-head battle, but anything with a more lopsided record is truly rare. The White Sox have to be able to show, especially at home, that they can compete with the Indians, a team that made the playoffs last year. If Cleveland sweeps this series, the White Sox could feel that they’re already done for the season just a few weeks in.

MLB Baseball: Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees - Thursday

The Red Sox, reigning world champions, play their first game of the season against the Yankees on Thursday. There will be a lot of emotion in Yankee Stadium for the first of 19 games between these teams, the 19 final games in which Derek Jeter will go up against Boston (barring a rematch in the American League playoffs). Boston certainly seems to have the better team, and while the Yankees will be intent on winning, the matchup favors the champions. Clay Buchholz is a better pitcher than Michael Pineda. We’ll see if the Yankees can pull an upset.

MLB Baseball: Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs - Thursday

The Pirates and Cubs will conclude their second series of the season on Thursday. The first few games in Pittsburgh were generally low scoring, and there’s little reason to think anything will change in this series in Chicago. The wind might be blowing out to right field, but that’s something you can’t predict well in advance. The Pirates are comfortable playing close, well-pitched games. If this is a pitching duel, Pittsburgh will probably have the edge.

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