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White Sox-Red Sox Preview

Aug 26, 2009 - 4:25 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Chicago (63-62) at Boston (71-53), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Tim Wakefield was a big reason why the Boston Red Sox had such a strong pitching staff in the first half of the season and led the AL East entering the All-Star break.

His absence may be why the Red Sox are now looking up in the standings.

Wakefield makes his first start in more than a month Wednesday as Boston hosts the Chicago White Sox.

Wakefield (11-3, 4.31 ERA) is looking to provide some help to a rotation that struggled while he was on the disabled list with lower back and left calf problems. Boston (72-53) began the break leading the Yankees by three games in large part because of a rotation that was 40-24 with a 4.38 ERA.

The right-handed knuckleballer was tied with teammate Josh Beckett for the major league lead in victories before the break, winning five straight decisions and earning his first All-Star appearance.

Since Wakefield went on the disabled list July 21, the Red Sox's rotation has gone 11-15 with a 5.28 ERA. Boston now trails New York by six games in the AL East but has a 1 1/2-game lead over Texas for the wild card.

"I'm glad to be back," Wakefield told the Red Sox's official Web site, "and hopefully I can contribute as much as I did in the first half."

Wakefield is 7-11 with a 5.11 ERA against the White Sox (63-63), but he's won three of his last four starts versus Chicago.

Boston has taken the first two games of this four-game series. After scoring six unearned runs in Monday's 12-8 win, the Red Sox scored three times off reliever Scott Linebrink in the eighth inning en route to Tuesday's 6-3 victory.

Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits and his franchise-record 55th stolen base of the season, while Jason Bay homered in the eighth to break a 3-all tie. Victor Martinez had tied the game in the seventh on a pinch-hit RBI single.

Chicago has lost three straight to fall into a tie with Minnesota for second place in the AL Central behind Detroit.

Jayson Nix drove in two runs, but the White Sox were 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They had runners on first and third with no outs in the eighth before Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rios were retired in order to end the threat.

"I know what I've got, and I'm still waiting for it to show up," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I'm the captain of the boat. I go down with the ship."

Dye is 2 for 22 in his last six games. He's 9 for 42 (.214) against Wakefield while Jim Thome is 8 for 52 (.154).

The White Sox will try to snap out of their slump when they hand the ball to Gavin Floyd (10-8, 3.98), who allowed four runs in 7 1-3 innings of a 5-1 loss to Baltimore on Friday.

The right-hander is 2-0 with a 5.74 ERA against the Red Sox. At Fenway Park last year, he allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-2 win.