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Struggling White Sox, Dodgers open series

Jun 24, 2008 - 12:56 PM Chi White Sox (41-34) at LA Dodgers (35-40) 10:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Chicago White Sox's road struggles are proving costly in the American League Central, which makes Tuesday a fine time to run into the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The White Sox attempt to end a 10-game road slide when they begin a three-game interleague set against the Dodgers.

Chicago, which held a 6 1/2-game advantage over second-place Minnesota (40-36) on June 9, has won just four of its last 12 games, losing five games off its division lead.

Most of those struggles have come on the road, where the team is 17-23 for the season. During their nine-game slide, the White Sox are averaging a meager 2.3 runs and batting just .251.

If his last three games are any indication, Mark Buehrle (4-6, 4.28 ERA) may not need much more from his offense. The lefthander allowed just two runs and four hits in Wednesday's 8-2 win over Pittsburgh - the third straight outing he has gone eight innings and yielded two runs or less.

He faces a Dodgers team that avoided a second straight interleague sweep with Sunday's 4-3 win over Cleveland. Los Angeles, 13th in the National League with 318 runs scored, improved to 2-7 in interleague play with the win.

However, over his last four starts, the Dodgers have scored 21 runs for Derek Lowe (5-6, 3.90), who has won three of his last four starts, including Wednesday's 6-1 victory over Cincinnati. The sinkerballer, who has not permitted more than three earned runs in his last six starts, allowed just one run and three hits over 5 1/3 innings.