• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Gabbard looks to continue big league success as Red Sox face White Sox

Jul 21, 2007 - 1:10 PM Chi White Sox (43-52) at Boston (57-39) 3:55 pm EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Rookie lefthander Kason Gabbard will get his turn in front of a resurgent Boston Red Sox offense when they host the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

The Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday with a 10-run outburst against Jose Contreras and the White Sox. Light-hitting Coco Crisp drove in three runs and the suddenly red-hot Julio Lugo tacked on a grand slam for Boston, which score double-digit runs for the first time Since July 5 against Tampa Bay.

Lugo has hit in 10 straight games, going 19-for-38 (.500) with two homers and nine RBI over that span to lift his average from a major league-worst .189 to .225. Gabbard (3-0, 3.38 ERA) has made two starts during that span, going 1-0 while allowing two runs and six hits in 15 1/3 innings. That includes the first nine-inning shutout by a Red Sox rookie since Roger Clemens in 1984 when he three-hit the Kansas City Royals in a 4-0 victory last Monday.

He tossed seven scoreless frames against the White Sox in a brief call-up last September to earn his first major league win.

Chicago will counter with fellow rookie lefthander John Danks (6-6, 4.81). The 22-year-old has had the support his offense in his last two outings, picking up the the win in both despite allowing 10 runs in a combined 12 frames against Baltimore and Cleveland.

Danks ranks among the league leaders with 18 home runs allowed in 17 starts this season.