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Cubs-White Sox Preview

Jun 27, 2010 - 4:19 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Chicago (32-41) at Chicago (38-34), 2:05 p.m. EDT

Less than three weeks ago, the Chicago White Sox weren't even worth mentioning in the AL Central race. Riding the franchise's longest winning streak in 49 years into Sunday's finale against the Chicago Cubs, the Sox are now the talk of the town.

The White Sox were 9 1/2 games behind division-leading Minnesota on June 9, but they have moved within 1 1/2 games of the Twins with 15 wins in their last 16 games. Paul Konerko's solo homer in the eighth inning propelled the White Sox (39-34) to their 11th consecutive victory on Saturday, 3-2 over the Cubs. The White Sox have tied the longest winning streak in the majors this season, which is one shy of the club's longest surge since a 12-game run June 17-27, 1961.

Saturday's victory moved the White Sox into a second-place divisional tie with Detroit and five games above .500 for the first time since July 23.

"If you would have told me before the season the standings would be exactly how they are right now, I would have told you that makes sense," said Konerko, batting .298 with 15 homers and 44 RBIs in 60 career games versus the Cubs.

While the White Sox are averaging 4.6 runs during the streak, the team's starting pitching has been outstanding during this stretch, going 8-0 with a 2.16 ERA. The last White Sox starter not to complete at least six innings was Freddy Garcia, who went 5 2/3 inning in a 6-4 victory at Pittsburgh on June 15 that started this run.

"You don't want to be the weak link," said John Danks (7-5, 3.23 ERA), who will try to win four consecutive starts for the first time Sunday. "We're feeding off each other."

The left-hander allowed three runs in the first two innings of his last start, but retired 15 of the last 18 he faced in Tuesday's 9-6 win over Atlanta.

Danks, 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last six interleague starts, is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in three career outings in the crosstown series.

He'll face a Cubs team that's a season-low 10 games below .500 at 32-42.

"Its no fun losing I can tell you that," said manager Lou Piniella. "That's something that we obviously have to improve on."

Improved hitting would help. The Cubs are batting .193 and scoring 1.2 runs per game while losing four of five. Derrek Lee's RBI single in the sixth inning Saturday was the team's first run in 15 innings.

Ryan Dempster (5-6, 3.56) knows all too well about the Cubs' lack of offense. Despite striking out eight and allowing two runs in the team's first complete game this season, the right-hander was backed by only six hits in Tuesday's 2-0 loss at Seattle.

This will be the third consecutive year Dempster starts a game at U.S. Cellular Field on June 27. After getting tagged for eight runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 10-3 loss to the White Sox two years ago, Dempster gave up five runs and eight hits in an 8-7 loss on the South Side in 2009.

The White Sox have won seven of eight at U.S. Cellular Field in this matchup.

They will try to win eight straight at home for the first time since a nine-game stretch June 17-July 2, 2008.