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White Sox, Cubs meet in Windy City battle

May 18, 2007 - 1:15 PM Chi White Sox (20-17) at Chicago Cubs (18-21) 2:20 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Chicago White Sox head to the north side of town to take on Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

The surging White Sox have been rolling of late, going 8-3 over their last 11 games, highlighted by a series win over the New York Yankees.

The White Sox's pitching staff has been the anchor behind this current stretch, posting impressive 6-2 mark with a 2.61 ERA.

Mark Buehrle (2-1, 3.61 ERA) takes the hill for the White Sox in an attempt to record his 100th career victory. In his last start, the lefthander gave up four runs against Kansas City, but failed to receive a win.

Buehrle is 3-3 with a 5.63 ERA in seven career starts when facing the Cubs.

But things are not going as well for the Cubs as they allowed five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 6-5 loss to the New York Mets on Friday.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella lifted closer Ryan Dempster after giving up two runs for lefthander Scott Eyre, who picked up the loss after inheriting a 5-3 lead with the bases loaded.

"I just lost the game. I don't know what else to say," Dempster said. "It's tough when you can't get ahead of the guys and put it away. I put some guys in tough situations, and (my teammates) had to clean up my garbage."

Ted Lilly (3-2, 2.53) starts for the Cubs. The lefthander was brilliant in his last start, allowing one run in eight frames in Sunday's 4-1 win against the Philadelphia.

The lefthanded Lilly has posted a 4-2 record with a 6.64 ERA in eight lifetime starts against the White Sox.

The Cubs trail, 29-25, in the series since 1997 but are 13-14 at Wrigley Field.