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Tigers, White Sox look to finish abbreviated series

Apr 15, 2009 - 1:47 AM By Jeff Mezydlo Stats Senior Writer

Chi White Sox (4-3) at Detroit (4-4), 1:05 p.m. EDT

DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Tigers' first day off came two days earlier than scheduled. The Chicago White Sox hope an unexpected break won't hurt their momentum.

While rain postponed the second of a three-game set between the AL Central Division rivals, they were able to rework their pitching rotations prior to concluding an abbreviated series Wednesday at Comerica Park.

Tuesday's contest was postponed after a 10-minute wait. No makeup date has been set, but Chicago (4-3) returns to Detroit two more times this season.

The Tigers (4-4) were to play 10 consecutive days before their first scheduled off day Thursday.

"(The Tigers) want to play in better weather," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen told the White Sox's official Web site as his team tries for a fourth consecutive win. "You don't want anybody to get hurt."

After the White Sox (4-3) pounded out 16 hits during a 10-6 win on Monday, Guillen decided to keep right-hander Jose Contreras (0-1, 7.20 ERA) on schedule and push left-hander John Danks to open a four-game road set Thursday against Tampa Bay's left-handed power-hitting lineup.

"That was a little bit of it," White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said. "A little bit of Rays against lefties and these guys (Detroit) against righties."

Contreras allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings of a 12-5 loss to Minnesota on Friday. He is 8-8 with a 4.68 ERA in 22 starts against the Tigers, but has lost his last five versus them.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland pushed back 20-year-old rookie Rick Porcello from Tuesday to Sunday in Seattle, and will go with Armando Galarraga (1-0, 1.29) to leave the Tigers with a four-man rotation for at least 10 days.

Galarraga allowed one run and five hits while striking out eight in seven innings of a 15-2 victory over Texas on Friday.

"You can't pitch much better than he did," Leyland said of Galarraga, who won 13 games as a rookie in 2008.

The right-hander has never made a start against the White Sox, but took the loss against them after allowing a run in an 8-2 defeat on Sept. 29.

Galarraga hopes to fare better than Zach Miner, who was roughed up by the White Sox on Monday.

Carlos Quentin went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs, while Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko combined for seven hits, five RBIs and each recorded their 300th career home runs on consecutive at-bats in the second inning.

"We created more runs, had good at-bats," said Guillen, whose team has outscored Minnesota and Detroit 24-7 during the three-game winning streak. "We weren't chasing bad pitches and took advantage of that. We know we're going to hit. It was just a matter of time."

Quentin is 8-for-18 with four homers and eight RBIs after going 0-for-6 in his first two games. He is batting .355 (22-for-62) with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 16 games against the Tigers.

Brian Anderson is expected to start in center field now that Dewayne Wise will miss at least six weeks after he separated his shoulder making a diving catch Monday. Rookie second baseman and Detroit-area native Chris Getz should be back after missing that game with a sore elbow.

Ramon Santiago had three hits with a three-run homer and Josh Anderson drove in three runs Monday for Detroit, which has lost four in a row to the White Sox.

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera is batting .467 (14-for-30) through eight games and is 7-for-10 with three RBIs against Contreras.