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Yankees-White Sox Preview

Aug 2, 2009 - 1:48 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

New York (62-41) at Chicago (53-51), 2:05 p.m. EDT

Mark Buehrle can expect a hero's welcome when he takes the mound Sunday for the Chicago White Sox.

He'll make his first home start since his perfect game as the White Sox try to complete their first four-game home sweep of the New York Yankees in nearly 45 years when they face long-time nemesis CC Sabathia.

Buehrle (11-4, 3.45 ERA) pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history July 23 against Tampa Bay in a 5-0 victory. He improved to 15-1 with a 2.32 ERA in his last 21 starts at home.

The left-hander will try to get back on the winning track after a difficult outing Tuesday at Minnesota. He retired the first 17 batters before his bid for another perfect game ended as he gave up five runs over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-3 loss.

"It's just one of those things where you kind of appreciate and sit back and realize how hard it is to throw a no-hitter or a perfect game," Buehrle said. "Because you see today that I made some good pitches and they put them in play and got base hits off them. It's just frustrating."

While Buehrle has been nearly unbeatable at home, he hasn't had success often anywhere against New York (62-42). Buehrle is 1-6 with a 6.11 ERA in eight starts versus the Yankees, including 0-4 with a 6.91 ERA in five home outings.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter is 10 for 25 (.400) against Buehrle and first baseman Mark Teixeira is 10 for 32 (.313) with a homer and seven RBIs.

Buehrle's opponent on the mound will be a familiar one in Sabathia (10-7, 3.83), who is 14-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 26 starts against the White Sox (54-51) from his days with Cleveland. Sabathia, however, is enduring his longest winless stretch versus Chicago with an 0-1 mark and a 4.28 ERA in his last four outings.

The left-hander is also 7-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 13 starts at U.S. Cellular Field for his best visiting record in any AL park.

The White Sox may choose to rest left-handed hitters A.J. Pierzynski and Jim Thome with Sabathia pitching. Pierzynski is 4 for 24 (.167) against him and Thome 3 for 21 (.143) with nine strikeouts.

Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko is 12 for 63 (.190) in his career versus Sabathia, but Konerko is batting .381 against left-handers this season.

Sabathia was not effective Tuesday at Tampa Bay, allowing six runs over 5 2-3 innings in a 6-2 loss.

Chicago is in position to sweep four at home from New York for the first time since Aug. 17-20, 1964. The White Sox have scored 24 runs in the last two games, getting four RBIs apiece from Scott Podsednik and Gordon Beckham in a 14-4 victory Saturday.

Podsednik is 5 for 10 with three runs scored and five RBIs in this series while Pierzynski is 8 for 14 (.571) with three runs scored.

New York had received outstanding pitching before this series, posting a 3.03 ERA in winning 11 of 13 games. The Yankees have a 9.49 ERA over the last three contests.

"Sometimes when you don't pitch well things can go a little awry," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's no excuse, but you see it happen."