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White Sox search for offensive consistency

May 2, 2008 - 2:05 PM Chi White Sox (14-12) at Toronto (12-17) 7:07 pm EDT

TORONTO (Ticker) - While the Chicago White Sox find themselves atop their division, the offensive numbers suggest the success won't last. Turning it around against the one of the AL's best pitching staffs doesn't figure to be easy.

The White Sox hope to snap a two-game slide on Friday when they travel to the Rogers Centre to begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Chicago, which is the only team with a winning record in the American League Central, leads the AL in home runs with 36, but are last in the league with 219 hits and a .242 team batting average. Finding that offense against Toronto, which owns the AL's third-best ERA at 3.62, doesn't figure to be an easy task.

The White Sox did little to improve those numbers in their last series against Minnesota, which took both games from Chicago over the last two days. Chicago managed only a pair of solo shot in a pair of low-scoring losses against the Twins, batting .246 (16-for-65) for the series.

Mark Buehrle (1-2, 5.65 ERA), much like his team's offense, will be hoping for a return to form when he takes the mound on Friday.

Opponents are batting a career-high .333 against him this season, although the veteran lefthander halted a two-game losing streak with a no-decision on Saturday when he allowed three runs and three hits over six innings in Chicago's 6-5 victory.

Shaun Marcum (2-2, 3.24) will be looking to avoid a three-game slide of his own as he takes the mound for Toronto. Despite yielding just two runs and four hits in seven innings on Saturday to Kansas City, the righthander could not get enough support from his offense in a 2-1 loss.