Orioles 2 - 3 White Sox
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Orioles-White Sox Preview

Jul 4, 2015 - 4:32 AM If confidence has been an issue for the last-place Chicago White Sox, it should be less of a problem now after three straight wins against division leaders.

The White Sox seek their first four-game streak in more than six weeks Saturday when they continue a three-game series against the slumping Baltimore Orioles.

After starting their eight-game trip with four losses in six games, the White Sox (35-42) received outstanding performances from starters Chris Sale and Jose Quintana in back-to-back wins over major league-leading St. Louis. John Danks followed suit Friday against Baltimore, tossing seven innings and getting all the support he needed from Jose Abreu's team-leading 14th home run in a 1-0 victory.

Melky Cabrera and Avisail Garcia each had two hits for Chicago, which has won seven of 11 after losing a season-high eight in a row. The White Sox have a chance for their first four-game streak since capturing six straight May 12-18.

Danks' outing continued a trend of stellar starting pitching at home for the White Sox. Their starters have thrown nine consecutive quality starts at U.S. Cellular Field, posting a 1.57 ERA and striking out 62 in 63 innings.

Baltimore (42-38) has lost four of five - it fell a game behind the New York Yankees into second in the AL East after Friday - and was blanked for a second straight day after Thursday's 2-0 home loss to Texas. The Orioles, who averaged 5.9 runs during a 17-6 stretch before the shutouts, haven't been held without a run in three straight since July 29-31, 1957.

''This is why this game is so hard,'' said Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez. ''You can be doing really good, and then all of a sudden you can't score.''

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters - the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters - combined to go hitless in eight at-bats Friday. Jones is hitting .156 and Wieters is batting .125 over their past nine games.

Offensive support has been anything but a problem for Chris Tillman (6-7, 5.67 ERA), who ranks among the AL leaders in run support (6.81). Despite posting a 5.13 ERA in his past five starts, he is 4-0 during that span while receiving 13.67 runs on his behalf.

After surrendering six runs in 1 1-3 innings at Toronto on June 21, the right-hander rebounded in a big way Sunday night against Cleveland. He pitched seven innings of four-hit ball and struck out six without a walk in an 8-0 victory.

''I was able to command the fastball and make some good pitches early on,'' Tillman said. ''That's key to getting deep in a ballgame.''

He's won his last two starts against Chicago, yielding one run and four hits in 15 innings with 14 strikeouts.

Cabrera is 7 for 22 with a homer and two doubles against Tillman.

Jeff Samardzija (5-4, 4.56) will try to atone for a dismal outing earlier this season against the Orioles. Samardzija was roughed up for six first-inning runs en route to an 8-2 loss in an empty Camden Yards on April 29. The right-hander did pitch five innings, allowing eight runs and 10 hits as his ERA in two career starts versus Baltimore reached 8.25.

Samardzija has been much more effective lately, going 1-0 with a 3.49 ERA in his last four starts. He carried a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning Sunday at Detroit before allowing four runs - the big blow coming on Victor Martinez's bases-clearing double with one out on his final pitch.

Manny Machado hit one of his two home runs off Samardzija in the April win and is 5 for 6 lifetime in this matchup.






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