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Buehrle, Verlander square off in Detroit

Apr 22, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - The Detroit Tigers have a good shot at extending their winning streak against the AL Central-rival Chicago White Sox to seven games with ace Justin Verlander set to take the hill Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

The Tigers have won six straight and eight of the past nine meetings with Chicago, and will begin a six-game homestand at Comerica Park tonight. They won 10 of the 18 contests against Chicago a season ago and just went 4-3 on a seven-game trip culminated with Wednesday's 3-2 win at Seattle.

Ryan Raburn homered and both Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch knocked in a run for Detroit, which got 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball out of winning starter Rick Porcello. Porcello also fanned six batters and walked one for his first win of the 2011 campaign.

"Winning road trip, so that was a huge win for us," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland. "We could've done a little better, but to win the road trip, I'll take it right now.

"We're still getting guys going and some guys aren't hitting yet, but I'll take that, that was a big win."

Leyland's club is slated to welcome the Mariners to the Motor City for three games after hosting the White Sox, and will hand the ball to Verlander tonight. The hard-throwing righty and early favorite for the AL's Cy Young Award is just 1-2 with a 3.41 earned run average in four starts and has dropped back-to-back trips to the rubber.

Verlander was recently beaten by Oakland last Saturday, as he allowed four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in six innings. He went the distance in a loss versus Texas the start before on April 11. He has made 19 starts in his career against the Pale Hose, going 7-9 with a 4.55 ERA.

The White Sox will resume a lengthy 11-game road trip and ended a seven-game slide with Thursday's 9-2 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.

Paul Konerko had a game-high three hits, two RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Omar Vizquel, Carlos Quentin and A.J. Pierzynski each drove in two runs for Chicago, which is 1-3 on the road swing and will also visit New York for four games at Yankee Stadium.

Chicago starter Gavin Floyd had a solid outing and allowed two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.

"I felt like I had to dig deep, especially when guys were on," Floyd said. "Just try to make pitches, get ahead, and make them put it in play."

Mark Buehrle gets the nod for the White Sox tonight and will try to bounce back from Sunday's 4-2 loss against the LA Angels of Anaheim in which the lefty was reached for four runs and a season-high 10 hits in seven innings.

Buehrle fell to 1-1 in four starts and saw his ERA go from 4.26 to 4.50 after his performance versus the Halos. He has faced rival Detroit many times in his career, as he owns a 16-8 mark with a 3.01 ERA in 30 career games (29 starts).