• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Quentin, White Sox hope to end woes vs. Pirates

Jun 17, 2008 - 2:58 PM Pittsburgh (34-36) at Chi White Sox (38-31), 8:11 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Carlos Quentin and the Chicago White Sox will try to avoid a third straight loss Tuesday as they host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

The White Sox have lost five of their previous six contests and Quentin's struggles have been a major factor in the club's lack of success. Quentin has just four hits with no homers and one RBI over his last eight games.

Quentin went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Saturday's loss and was then held out of Sunday's 2-0 setback to the Colorado Rockies with a swollen left thumb. Despite his recent woes, the 25-year-old slugger is batting .269 with a team-leading 16 home runs and 54 RBI this season.

Pirates starter Ian Snell (3-6, 5.33 ERA) will try to extend Quentin's struggles. Snell snapped a five-game losing streak and recorded his first win since April 12, his last time out.

The 26-year-old righthander gave up just one run on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts over six innings during Wednesday's 3-1 triumph over the Washington Nationals.

Chicago will counter with Javier Vazquez (6-5, 3.90), who ranks second in the American League with 90 strikeouts. He only trails reining AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia's 97.

The Puerto Rican righthander struck out another nine batters over six frames Wednesday, but he surrendered five runs, 10 hits and three walks and the White Sox suffered a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.