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Orioles-White Sox Preview

Aug 23, 2010 - 8:21 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Baltimore (44-81) at Chicago (67-57), 8:10 p.m. EDT

The Chicago White Sox lost their hold on sole possession of the AL Central lead when they visited Baltimore earlier this month, and now they'll have a hard time getting it back.

After a tough road trip, the White Sox will try to regroup at home when they open a three-game series against the Orioles on Tuesday night.

Chicago (67-57) continues to fall further behind Minnesota for first place after last sitting alone atop the standings Aug. 8. The White Sox failed to take advantage of its series against lowly Kansas City over the weekend, dropping two of three.

All three games went to extra innings, with Sunday's 3-2 loss being decided in 10.

The White Sox have dropped 11 of 16, a slump that started when they lost three of four at Baltimore (44-81) from Aug. 6-9. They now open a six-game homestand after going 2-4 on their road trip, with all four losses decided by one run and three in extra innings.

"This road trip was very important for us, and we played like garbage," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I'm very, very disappointed. It was very, very bad. We're better than this."

Guillen's club had won 20 of 22 home games before losing its last two series at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago is 8-14 against the AL East and will face the New York Yankees this weekend.

"It's not going to get any easier," starter John Danks told the White Sox's official website. "We just have to play good baseball these last five or six weeks and see where that takes us."

The White Sox likely will begin the homestand without left-handed reliever Matt Thornton, who hasn't pitched since Tuesday because of forearm discomfort. Their bullpen is 1-5 with four blown saves and a 6.17 ERA over the last eight games, allowing six home runs.

Gavin Floyd (8-10, 3.97 ERA) will try to put back-to-back dismal starts against Minnesota behind him when he takes the mound. After allowing six runs in 6 2-3 innings against the Twins on Aug. 12, he gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings of a 7-6 defeat Wednesday.

Those two losses came after Floyd went 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in his previous four starts.

The most recent of those victories came against the Orioles on Aug. 7. He gave up two runs in seven innings of a 4-2 win to improve to 2-1 with a 2.54 ERA in four career starts against Baltimore.

After a hot start under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles have cooled off, losing seven of 11. They're coming off a four-game split with Texas, falling 6-4 on Sunday.

Luke Scott his 100th career home run, but the Orioles were assured of a 13th consecutive non-winning season after Kevin Millwood gave up six runs in six innings.

Baltimore starters are 2-6 with a 4.42 ERA the last nine games after going 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA in their first 11 under Showalter.

Jeremy Guthrie (7-12, 3.97) will open the series after suffering his worst outing since the All-Star break in his last start.

Guthrie had won three straight outings before giving up six runs in eight innings of a 6-5 loss to Seattle on Wednesday. The right-hander hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of his previous six starts.

Guthrie was outstanding in posting his third straight win over the White Sox on Aug. 8, allowing one run in eight innings of a 4-3 victory. He's won his last two visits to U.S. Cellular Field while posting a 1.80 ERA.