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Orioles-White Sox Preview

Jul 17, 2009 - 5:51 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Baltimore (40-48) at Chicago (45-43), 8:11 p.m. EDT

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Chicago White Sox are looking for a little consistency at home as they try to make a run at a second consecutive AL Central title.

That quest begins Friday night when the White Sox open a three-game series against the last-place Baltimore Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field.

Chicago (45-43) is second in the AL Central, 3 1/2 games behind Detroit, but only one-half game ahead of Minnesota.

"Let's face it, we are in a division where we have a couple of teams right with us," designated hitter Jim Thome told the White Sox's official Web site. "It's hard not to scoreboard watch early, but you have to understand that every game becomes important."

Following a season-high seven-game winning streak, the White Sox failed to improve their division standing by losing five of eight - including 13-7 to the Twins on Sunday. They've also posted a 22-21 home record after going 54-28 there last year, when they made the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2005 World Series.

"Looking at the whole big picture of the first half, we are in good shape for the second half," first baseman Paul Konerko said. "In general, we are climbing."

The White Sox's woes at U.S. Cellular Field came mostly due to an offense which is last in the AL with a .237 batting average at home and second-worst with 176 runs. However, they appear to be breaking out of that funk, hitting .314 and scoring 57 runs in their last eight home games.

John Danks (7-6, 3.91 ERA) often has been victimized by poor run support when pitching at home, being backed by two runs or less in six of his eight starts there as he's gone 2-4 despite a 3.33 ERA. He goes back to the mound Friday after being moved up a day in the rotation to fill in for Mark Buehrle, who pitched an inning in Tuesday's All-Star game.

Danks had thrown 19 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings before giving up four runs and walking four in the first inning at Minnesota last Friday. However, those were the only runs he allowed in 5 2-3 innings and he did not get a decision in Chicago's 6-4 defeat. Danks had a 1.51 ERA in his previous five starts.

The left-hander was dominant in winning his only outing against Baltimore this year, giving up one run and four hits without a walk in seven innings of an 8-2 win April 22. He's 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA in four career starts versus the Orioles.

Chicago dropped two of three at Baltimore from April 21-23, and the clubs have split the last eight meetings at U.S. Cellular.

Baltimore seeks a fifth win in six games after closing out the first half with a 4-2 victory over Toronto on Sunday.

"I've seen improvement from the younger players," manager Dave Trembley told the Orioles' official Web site. "I've seen, as a team, the ability to come back. The areas to improve would be general fundamentals. Obviously, our starting pitching is going to have to pull its weight."

Rookie Jason Berken (1-6, 5.87), who gets his first start against Chicago, has struggled to adjust to the majors. He's 0-6 with a 6.15 ERA in eight starts after winning his major league debut against the Blue Jays on May 26.

The right-hander showed some improvement last Friday, allowing two runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 2-0 loss to Toronto.