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Jul 22, 2010 - 6:10 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Chicago (52-42) at Oakland (48-47), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Victories in Oakland were once rare for the Chicago White Sox, but they have a chance to finish a lengthy trip by winning a third consecutive series there.

Mark Buehrle will try to end his struggles against the A's and get the first-place White Sox off to a good start to the three-game set Friday night.

Chicago (52-42) dropped 27 of 33 road games against the A's from 2001-2007, but have since won four of six. Now the White Sox will be looking for Buehrle (8-8, 4.18 ERA) to begin his own Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum turnaround.

The left-hander has gone 0-6 with a 4.95 ERA in 10 career starts there, the last coming Aug. 15, 2007. The only other AL parks in which Buehrle has failed to win are 2-year-old Yankee Stadium and Target Field, which is in its first season.

He is 3-12 with a 4.11 ERA in 20 overall starts against the A's.

Buehrle could be in good position to earn that elusive victory at Oakland, having gone 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA in his last seven outings and 3-2 with a 2.80 ERA in his last five on the road.

He was outpitched by Minnesota's Carl Pavano on Saturday, losing 3-2 after throwing eight innings of three-run ball.

Chicago dropped three of four in the Twins series, but bounced back to take two of three from Seattle to improve to 3-4 on its trip. The lone defeat to the Mariners, however, created more cause for concern regarding the closer's role.

Bobby Jenks allowed two runs in the 11th inning as the White Sox lost 2-1 on Wednesday. It was his second poor outing in four games, as he gave up four runs in the ninth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Twins on Sunday.

After Wednesday's defeat, manager Ozzie Guillen said Jenks' role is up for grabs. Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz and Sergio Santos could replace Jenks, who has converted 20 of 22 chances despite a 5.09 ERA.

"All options are open now," Guillen said. "I get paid to win games. ... I put the guy in with the best shot."

Pitching has not been a problem lately for the A's (48-47), who have posted a 2.34 ERA while winning seven of eight. Oakland defeated Boston 6-4 on Wednesday as Gio Gonzalez went six innings and three relievers held the Red Sox scoreless.

Surprisingly, All-Star Trevor Cahill (9-3, 3.19) has not performed well during his team's run of strong pitching. The right-hander has gone 1-1 with a 5.03 ERA over his last three starts since a seven-game winning streak.

He can join Tim Hudson as the only A's to earn at least 10 victories in each of their first two seasons Friday.

"(Cahill) has all the tools," manager Bob Geren told Oakland's official website. "It's been fantastic to watch."

Cahill has gone 0-0 with a 4.30 ERA in three starts versus the White Sox. He gave up two runs over six innings in his only home start against them, a 3-2 victory Aug. 16.

He will likely have to face slugger Carlos Quentin, who is expected to return from a bruised right hand. The outfielder, who has not played since Sunday, is second on the White Sox with 19 homers and 64 RBIs.

Chicago and Oakland have split their past 18 meetings.