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Swap meet: Traded hurlers square off in Arizona

Jun 17, 2011 - 2:52 PM (Sports Network) - Traded for each other in a three-player deal last summer, Chicago White Sox hurler Edwin Jackson will square off with Daniel Hudson of the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight in the opener of a three-game interleague series from Chase Field.

Jackson was acquired from the D'Backs in exchange for pitchers Hudson and David Holmberg. Jackson was in his first year with Arizona after being brought in from Detroit in a three-team deal that included the New York Yankees in December of the 2009 season. In 21 starts with the Diamondbacks in 2010, Jackson was 6-10 with a 5.16 ERA. He has faced Arizona four times in his career, three of which have been starts, going 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA.

The right-hander is 2-1 in his last three decisions, but hasn't figured into the outcome in each of his last three trips to the mound. He has allowed two runs over six innings in each of his last two outings against the Tigers and Athletics, and owns a 4-5 mark in 13 starts to go along with a 4.39 ERA.

Hudson is 4-0 in his last six starts and 7-1 with a 3.06 earned run average over the previous 10 trips to the mound since beginning the season with four straight losses. He threw six innings of one-run ball in a 5-1 victory at Florida on Sunday to run his 2011 mark to 7-5 in 14 starts with a 3,82 ERA.

Hudson, a righty, is 4-2 in seven trips to the Chase Field mound and has never faced the White Sox in his career. He spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons with Chicago and accumulated a 2-2 record in nine games (5 starts).

Arizona was able to salvage the finale of a three-game series with San Francisco by squeezing out a 3-2 win in 10 innings on Thursday thanks to Justin Upton's solo home run in the bottom of the 10th. Upton blasted a shot to right field and finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. He is hitting .462 with a home runs and five RBI over his last six games.

Chris Young clubbed a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, who went 15-2 over a 17-game stretch from May 14-30 and have won five of eight games overall. The D'Backs were able to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Giants for the NL West lead. San Francisco had won five in a row against Arizona.

"Obviously, you don't ever want to give a team momentum," Upton said. "They felt like they could sweep us and we were resilient enough not to let them. I feel like we've battled and they've come out on top however many times we've played them, so to finally win that close game and kind of break that little stretch is good."

Arizona starter Ian Kennedy was solid through eight innings, giving up an unearned run while tying a season high with 10 strikeouts in the no-decision. David Hernandez tossed a scoreless 10th for the win.

The White Sox lost both tests of a rain-shortened series in Minnesota and suffered a 1-0 setback Thursday. Mark Buehrle pitched well in defeat, allowing just the one run on Michael Cuddyer's solo homer in the second inning. The lefty lasted seven innings to fall to 6-5 on the season.

"He was great. He made one mistake and Cuddyer hit it out of the park," White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said about Buehrle's outing. "He changed speeds really well, made good pitches and it's a shame he lost."

Paul Konerko and Pierzynski both had two hits for Chicago, which fell for the sixth time in 11 tries and sits 5 1/2 games off the lead in the AL Central. The White Sox won't be able to use the designated hitter in this series, while Adam Dunn may get the call at first base or left field. Known to be a liability in the field, the slugging Dunn is batting .294 with two homers and six RBI over his last six games.

Chicago and Arizona haven't squared off since the 2005 campaign, when the D'Backs won two of three meetings at U.S. Cellular Field. The Diamondbacks also won a three-game series in 2003 in the desert and are 93-112 all-time against the American League.

The Pale Hose own a stellar 145-105 record in interleague action.