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White Sox-Orioles Preview

Aug 7, 2010 - 4:49 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Chicago (62-46) at Baltimore (35-73), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Buck Showalter's unbeaten start as Baltimore Orioles manager continued through the opener of a series with the Chicago White Sox.

With the way Chicago's Gavin Floyd has pitched lately, the Orioles will be hard-pressed to keep that run going.

The right-hander will try add to his string of impressive efforts and deny the Orioles a season-high fifth straight win Saturday night at Camden Yards.

Adam Jones' two-out single drove home the winning run in Friday night's 2-1 victory in 10 innings, and Baltimore (36-73) improved to 4-0 under Showalter.

"People are on their P's and Q's and playing the game," Jones said. "We're just playing the game smarter, not really giving them too many outs. We're making all the double plays, the small things that we weren't doing. Just playing the game smarter, I would say."

Showalter began his managerial career 6-0 with the New York Yankees in 1992, but he's got a long way to go to match Joe Torre's major league-record 13-0 start with Atlanta in 1982.

"So far, so good," Showalter said. "The guys are playing hard and getting a return on it. I'm happy for them."

Another strong outing from Floyd (7-8, 3.54 ERA) might prevent Showalter from leading Baltimore to its longest winning streak since a five-game run from June 17-21, 2009.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander has not yielded more than one earned run in six consecutive starts and is 5-2 with a 1.06 ERA in his last 11. He carried a perfect game into the sixth inning Sunday as he beat Oakland, finishing with one run and four hits allowed over seven frames in a 4-1 win.

"One of the most underrated, untalked about two months for any starting pitcher I've seen," reliever Matt Thornton told the White Sox's official website. "Absolutely lights out. Every game he has started, we are either winning or in it all the way to the end. He's been amazing."

Floyd is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in three all-time starts against the Orioles - none since 2008 - and 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two outings at Camden Yards.

He'll face a team hitting .324 in four games under Showalter - 65 points higher than its season average - but the White Sox lineup could be in for a big day of its own against a struggling Kevin Millwood (2-11, 6.05).

The veteran right-hander is 2-7 with an 8.84 ERA in his last 11 starts and has given up at least five runs in five straight outings. Millwood has lost the past three, including Sunday's 5-4 defeat at Kansas City as he allowed a season high-tying 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.

He hasn't had much better luck facing the White Sox (62-47) in recent seasons, going 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA in the last three matchups.

Millwood is 1-5 in 10 all-time starts against Chicago despite a 3.30 ERA.

The White Sox have been one of the hottest teams in the majors since June 8 with a 38-14 record, but they have dropped eight of 14 on the road.