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Sale seeks 10-0 start; Odor appeals suspension

Matt Hazlett / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale will try to become the majors' first 10-game winner in 2016 when his club hosts Cleveland at U.S. Cellular Field for the third installment of a four-game series.

Sale, the first White Sox pitcher in the live-ball era to start a season 9-0, has thrown consecutive complete games and hasn't allowed more than two runs in an outing since April 9. Only once this year has Sale, a four-time All-Star, failed to complete at least seven innings, and he currently leads the American League in ERA (1.58), WHIP (0.72), hits per nine innings (5.1), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.20).

To get his 10th win, however, Sale will have to outperform another unbeaten hurler in Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin, who improved to 6-0 on Thursday in Cincinnati with 7 2/3 quality innings.

Here's what else is happening all around the majors:

ODOR APPEALS

Rougned Odor will have his appeal heard regarding his eight-game suspension from Major League Baseball for punching Toronto Blue Jays star Jose Bautista last Sunday. The appeal will be heard by MLB executive vice president John McHale. If it is upheld, Odor would have to begin serving the penalty immediately.

WE MEET AGAIN

Stephen Strasburg (7-0, 2.80 ERA) and Matt Harvey (3-6, 5.77) face each other for the second time in six days. Strasburg and the Nationals came out way ahead in the first meeting, a 9-1 victory in which the right-hander struck out 10 and pitched one-run ball for six innings. The struggling Harvey had his worst start yet, allowing nine runs (six earned) over 2 2/3 innings.

HOT YANKS

Hard-throwing Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.44) and the Yankees try to keep rolling against the Blue Jays. Eovaldi has won three straight decisions behind a 2.84 ERA and ranks second among major league starters with an average fastball velocity of 96.8 mph - Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard is first at 98 mph, per Fangraphs. The Yankees, meanwhile, have won five straight and can pull to .500 for the first time since April 14 with a win.

SHARK MONTH

Jeff Samardzija (6-2, 2.66) tries to extend his May dominance when the Giants host San Diego. The right-hander has gone at least 7 2/3 innings in each of his four starts this month and has a 1.42 ERA in that time. Last time out, he struck out eight Padres and allowed just one run over eight innings.

BACK ON TRACK?

Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi (1-2, 3.81 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in Miami against Tom Koehler (2-4, 4.71). Odorizzi won his most recent start after going winless in his first eight this year. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash on Odorizzi: ''We've got to get back to being a little more efficient with our pitches. Odo is the one guy that you feel like he's always in control, but it seems he's so confident he can make the pitch to that outer edge, and if he doesn't make it he's going to try to go there again. And sometimes that's what puts him behind. If he comes out and attacks the zone like we know he can, it will open up that ability to really spot up those pitches once he gets ahead in the count.''

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