Chicago Vs. Detroit 7-26-11
One of Justin Verlander's worst outings in the last two months came at home against the Chicago White Sox less than two weeks ago.
Verlander will face the White Sox again on Tuesday night in Chicago as he tries to keep the Detroit Tigers alone atop the AL Central standings.
Detroit's division lead over second-place Cleveland is down to one game, and the Tigers (54-48) lead the White Sox (50-51) by 3 1/2 games after a 6-3 defeat Monday to Chicago.
Verlander (13-5, 2.24 ERA), who is 9-2 with a 1.15 ERA in his last 11 starts, will try to prevent back-to-back losses. The White Sox are the only team to reach him for more than two runs in that span, getting five in six innings of an 8-2 victory July 15.
He bounced back in his last start, surrendering one run and striking out nine in eight innings of a 6-2 win over Minnesota on Thursday.
"It's tough because he can throw 100 (mph) and then drop an 80-mph curveball or slider," Minnesota's Ben Revere told the Tigers' official website. "He knows the back door and the front door. ... He's a big-time All-Star, and I'll say he'll be a future Hall of Famer too."
Verlander is 2-1 against the White Sox this year, and his loss earlier this month snapped a seven-start winning streak in the series.
Chicago has won three of four versus Detroit and improved to 14-19 against division rivals, but it isn't getting overly confident in its recent success between the two.
"We can't sit here and say 'Oh we're going to win the division now, we won the first game against these guys,'" said Mark Buehrle, Monday's winning pitcher. "Obviously it's big to win first game, but it's a tough task tomorrow with Verlander on the mound."
Carlos Quentin is hitting .323 with thee homers against Verlander. The White Sox right fielder is batting .417 the last nine games and had a go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth Monday.
Chicago, which is trying to get back to .500, will start Jake Peavy (4-4, 5.19) as it bids for its first four-game winning streak since June 29-July 2.
Peavy has lost his last three starts, but was optimistic after he went six innings against Kansas City last Tuesday, allowing three runs in a 4-2 defeat.
"Everything was a little bit more crisp," said Peavy, who had a 7.71 ERA over his previous three starts. "I didn't have great stuff, but I had plenty enough stuff to compete. There's a lot more positive out of this start than there has been the previous three."
The right-hander struggled against the Tigers on June 5, allowing six runs and three walks in four innings before leaving an eventual 7-3 loss a strained groin.
Miguel Cabrera, who homered Monday, is 2 for 23 (.087) with 10 strikeouts against Peavy.
The White Sox haven't been closer than 3 1/2 games out of first since April 16, when they were three back.
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