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Rangers-White Sox Preview

May 31, 2010 - 5:02 PM By PAUL DIGIACOMO STATS Senior Editor

Texas (26-24) at Chicago (22-28), 8:10 p.m. EDT

Mark Buehrle is coming off one of the shortest outings of his career, but it wasn't because the Chicago White Sox left-hander was getting roughed up.

After being ejected from his last start for his reaction to a balk call, Buehrle looks to help the White Sox turn around their play at home when they begin a three-game series against the slumping Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

Umpire Joe West called a balk on Buehrle in the second inning of Wednesday's 5-4 win at Cleveland, leading to manager Ozzie Guillen's ejection after he came out to protect his pitcher.

With one out in the third, West called another balk on Buehrle, who flipped his glove off and was immediately ejected by West.

Guillen, Buehrle and West were fined by Major League Baseball on Friday for their roles in the incident.

"I didn't say anything. I didn't touch anybody. I didn't do anything to cause anything," Buehrle said. "I figured there was going to be a fine because no matter what, you get tossed from a game no matter what it is, there's always a fine. That's what I assumed I was getting.

"If I was getting suspended, I think I would have been surprised, yeah."

Buehrle (3-5, 4.38 ERA) was pitching well before the ejection, not allowing a run in 2 1-3 innings. That brief performance came after his best start of the season, when he allowed three hits over eight innings to beat Florida 8-0 on May 21.

In six starts before facing the Marlins, Buehrle was 0-5 with a 6.44 ERA.

He now gets a chance to pitch against the Rangers, who enter on a four-game losing streak and were no-hit by Buehrle at U.S. Cellular Field in 2007.

Texas (26-24) beat Buehrle on April 27, when he allowed four runs over seven innings in a 4-2 road loss. He is 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 11 home appearances against the Rangers.

The White Sox (22-28) are hoping that dominance continues Tuesday as they try to get things going at U.S. Cellular Field, where they are 11-13.

"You want to go home and play good," Guillen told his team's official website after the White Sox beat Tampa Bay 8-5 on Sunday to split a four-game road set with the major league's top club. "Now we have a stretch where we're going to go home for a while, and hopefully we take advantage of that, take pride in showing (the fans) where we are."

Chicago may be catching the Rangers at the right time.

Texas lost for the sixth time in seven games Sunday, 6-3 to Minnesota, and with slugger Nelson Cruz back on the disabled list, the Rangers have scored three runs or fewer each time during their current skid.

"We just haven't really clicked on all cylinders yet," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "We're getting good pitching but we're not scoring runs. When we're scoring runs we're not pitching well. We just need to get both those things on the same page and I think we'll start rolling."

Texas will send Rich Harden (2-1, 5.14) to the mound after he again struggled in his last start. The right-hander didn't receive a decision after allowing six runs over 5 1-3 innings of an 8-7 win at Kansas City last Tuesday.

Harden has a 9.45 ERA over his last three starts, but Texas has won twice.

"Just being inconsistent so far is frustrating," Harden told the Rangers' official website. "I want to go out and pitch well for this team. I haven't pitched as well as I'm capable of, but I'm making progress."

Harden beat Chicago 6-2 on April 28 to move to 4-3 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts against the White Sox.