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White Sox-Indians Preview

Sep 1, 2010 - 3:45 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Chicago (71-60) at Cleveland (53-78), 12:05 p.m. EDT

Manny Ramirez was set to make his Chicago White Sox debut in their last game. He will get his chance in the next one.

The 12-time All-Star is expected to be in the lineup as the White Sox try to complete a road sweep of the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday afternoon.

Awarded to Chicago off waivers from the Dodgers on Sunday night, Ramirez was in the on-deck circle ready to pinch-hit for Brent Lillibridge when A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to help the White Sox (72-60) to a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Tuesday.

"I'm not going to say A.J. hit a home run because of Manny," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "But when you see Manny's presence, you have to be careful with the guy in front of him because you don't want to face him. We didn't have to use him."

After arriving earlier in the day, Guillen felt the 38-year-old star was not ready to be in lineup Tuesday. Ramirez hit .311 with eight homers and 40 RBIs this season for Los Angeles but was limited to 66 games by calf and hamstring injuries. He was 2 for 10 in five games in August.

"I feel that I still have that fire to compete," Ramirez told the White Sox official website.

Ramirez will try to help Chicago improve to 3-0 on their 10-game road trip. The White Sox are four games behind AL Central-leading Minnesota. His first at-bat in a White Sox uniform will come in Cleveland, where he spent his first eight seasons. Ramirez has hit 132 of his 554 home runs at Progressive Field.

Juan Pierre, who played well last season in place of Ramirez when the slugger was suspended 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy, had two hits Tuesday. The White Sox leadoff hitter is batting .381 in his last 19 games.

Freddy Garcia (11-5, 4.89 ERA) looks to build on his first win in a month when he takes the ball for Chicago in the finale.

The right-hander was 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA in four starts since beating Seattle on July 29, but allowed two runs in seven innings of a 9-4 win over the Yankees on Friday. Chicago has given Garcia an average of 6.39 runs of support.

"To me, when Freddy has a two-, three-, four-run lead you have the freedom to go with the flow of the game, and I think it makes him a better pitcher," Guillen said.

Garcia is 6-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 18 starts against the Indians but has not faced them since 2006.

Travis Hafner is 15 for 31 with four homers versus Garcia but went 0 for 3 on Tuesday after a four-hit effort in the opener. The Indians slugger is batting .368 in six home games against the White Sox this season.

Looking to avoid a fourth straight loss, the Indians (53-79) will call up Carlos Carrasco to make his 2010 debut Wednesday. The right-hander was 10-6 with a 3.65 ERA in 25 starts at Columbus. He went 0-4 with an 8.87 ERA in five starts with Cleveland in 2009.

"He's probably got as high a ceiling as anybody we have starting here, so it's just a matter of putting it all together," manager Manny Acta told the Indians' official website.

The Indians are 8-6 versus Chicago this season.