• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Athletics-White Sox Preview

Jun 2, 2009 - 4:47 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Oakland (19-29) at Chicago (24-25), 8:11 p.m. EDT

It's been one month since the Chicago White Sox had a winning record.

The surging White Sox look to again surpass the .500 mark while trying to extend their season-high winning streak to five games Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics.

Coming off a 5-1 road trip, Chicago (25-25) didn't skip a beat with a 6-2 win over Oakland on Monday in the opener of a season-high 12-game homestand.

The White Sox, last over .500 on May 2 when they were 12-11, are 10-3 since losing a season-worst five straight games from May 13-18.

"The one thing about this ballclub is when we were losing we did not feel sorry for ourselves. We just kept our head up and continued to play even when it wasn't fun to play," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

On Monday, Jim Thome's three-run homer snapped a tie and capped a four-run eighth inning for Chicago, which has scored 51 runs in winning six of its last seven.

Thome has four hits and four RBIs in his last two games. His homer Monday was the 550th of his career.

A.J. Pierzynski also homered for the White Sox and is batting .520 (13 for 25) in his last seven games.

Chicago hopes for a second straight strong effort from Bartolo Colon (3-4, 3.80 ERA), whose start was pushed back one day so he could get extra rest.

"We've got to take care of him because he comes from injuries for the last couple years and we're going to try and keep it the longest we can the healthiest we can," said Guillen of Colon, who dealt with bone chips in his elbow last season while with Boston.

The right-hander allowed one run and four hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-2 road win over the Los Angeles Angels last Tuesday.

Colon hadn't completed more than five innings while going 0-3 over his previous four starts, which included him giving up eight runs - one earned - in two innings of a 20-1 loss to Minnesota on May 21.

"When I came out of the game (against Minnesota), that's the last time I thought about that game," Colon told the White Sox's official Web site. "I was preparing and getting ready for Los Angeles, and now I'll get ready and prepared for Oakland."

Colon is 6-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 14 games versus the Athletics.

Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer Monday for Oakland (19-30), which has lost five of its last six and owns the worst record in the AL. Holliday is 4 for 8, though, in his last two contests, and 5 for 10 in his last three against the White Sox.

The A's have been outscored 35-13 while going 1-4 on their current eight-game road trip.

Right-hander Vin Mazzaro will make his major league debut for Oakland on Tuesday. The 22-year-old was a third-round pick in 2005 and went 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA for Triple-A Sacramento.

"He's pitched about as good as you can pitch at that level so this is the next step, obviously," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "Honestly, he gives us the best chance to win."

Mazzaro joins fellow rookies Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Josh Outman in the Athletics' rotation.