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Thome looks to spark inconsistent White Sox offense

May 21, 2007 - 2:37 PM Oakland (22-21) at Chi White Sox (21-19) 8:11 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- With their offense suffering through a long dry spell, the Chicago White Sox are more than happy to welcome back Jim Thome.

Thome and the White Sox will begin a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Monday at U.S. Cellular Field. Despite scoring 10 runs on Sunday, Chicago has managed an American League-worst 160 runs, due in large part to the absence of their lefthanded slugger.

Thome, who had not played since April 27 due to a strained muscle in his rib cage, appeared as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of Sunday's 10-6 win over the Cubs, drawing a walk and later scoring.

Thome posted a .340 batting average with five homers and 10 RBI in 19 games before his injury.

Rookie John Danks (2-4, 4.10 ERA) will face Oakland for the first time, hoping to record a win in his third consecutive start. In his last outing on Wednesday, Danks surrendered two runs and struck out a career-high seven batters over 6 1/3 innings in a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

The Athletics will counter with Joe Blanton (4-1, 3.32), who has pitched seven or more innings in five straight contests and tossed at least six frames in all but one of his nine starts.

The righthander went eight innings on Wednesday, yielding two runs but did not get the win as Oakland's relievers were unable to hold a one-run lead in a 4-3 loss to Kansas City. Blanton is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in his only appearance against the White Sox.

The Athletics lost out on a chance for a sweep of the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, being held to a run and two hits by Matt Morris in his 4-1 complete-game win.