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Cubs shoot for series victory over White Sox

Jun 21, 2011 - 2:58 PM (Sports Network) - The Chicago Cubs can capture their first series triumph over the crosstown rival Chicago White Sox since 2008 with a victory tonight in the continuation of a three-game interleague set at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Cubs haven't prevailed in a series against the White Sox since sweeping a three-game set from June 20-22 of the 2008 campaign. But even after Monday's 6-3 win in the series opener, the Cubs have lost 11 of the past 16 meetings in this matchup.

After the Pale Hose grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to Carlos Quentin's RBI single and Paul Konerko's two-run homer, the Cubs did the rest of the scoring and put the game away with a four-run sixth inning. Starlin Castro led off the inning with a solo homer and Carlos Pena followed a few batters later with a three-run blast for the Cubs, winners in five of their last eight games. Castro ended with three runs batted in and has eight RBI in his past nine games. Aramis Ramirez finished 0-for-3 and is still six homers shy of 300 for his career.

Winning pitcher Carlos Zambrano gave up three runs on seven hits over eight innings to pick up the win. The fiery right-hander also struck out five and walked two, while improving to 5-2 on the road this season.

"So much has been made about his emotional stuff, and he was relaxed, he felt good and he handled himself great and then really went to work," Cubs manager Mike Quade said of Zambrano. "That's what you need, and good for him."

Carlos Marmol, the subject of recent criticism by Zambrano, delivered a scoreless ninth inning for his 15th save. The Cubs are still 3-7 in their last 10 games at the White Sox and will also visit Kansas City on this six-game road swing.

Matt Garza earned his first win in more than a month his previous time out and gets the nod for the Cubs Tuesday. Garza was 0-2 in three starts following a win over St. Louis on May 11, then benefited from a run-scoring outburst in Thursday's 12-7 victory over Milwaukee.

Garza didn't have his best stuff in the recent win, but managed to prevail even though he was reached for five runs and six hits in six innings. The victory lifted his 2011 record to 3-6 in 12 starts, but raised his earned run average from 3.84 to 4.14.

The right-hander, who's in his first season with the Cubs, is just 1-2 with a lofty 6.87 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.

Meanwhile, the White Sox lost for the fourth time in six tries and sit 5 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the American League Central lead. Konerko has been on fire lately and homered for the fourth straight game last night for Chicago.

Konerko is batting .437 with 10 home runs, 16 runs scored and 21 RBI in his previous 19 games. Overall, he is hitting .327 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI this season. Konerko is tied with Dwight Evans for 55th on the all-time home run list with 385 -- four behind Reds legend Johnny Bench for 54th place. The last White Sox player to hit a home run in five straight games is current Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Lee from April 17-21, 2003.

A.J. Pierzynski had three hits for his third multi-hit game in the last four. Starter Gavin Floyd was saddled with the loss and surrendered six runs and five hits in five-plus innings. The top of the sixth hurt him the most.

"I made a bad pitch to the leadoff guy, obviously, Castro, and it's just one of those things, when you get two strikes, you have to make a better pitch," Floyd said. "Things kind of led to getting guys on and then I made a bad pitch to Pena. You just have to put it behind you and move on."

The White Sox will also host Washington for three games on this homestand and are 11-6 in the past 17 home games after going 5-12 in the first 17. They have won 16 straight interleague series.

Mark Buehrle will make his 15th start of the season for the White Sox tonight and is 5-2 with a 2.78 earned run average over his last eight starts, with Chicago going 6-2 over that span. He previously took the mound in a 1-0 loss at Minnesota on Thursday, allowing the only run and three hits in seven innings of work.

Buehrle, who fell to 6-5 in 14 starts and lowered his ERA to 3.75, is a decent 4-1 in six home starts and will face the local Cubs for the 13th time in his career. Over the first 12 starts in this series, the left-hander owns a 5-4 record to go along with a 4.20 ERA.