Aug 24, 2006, 15:00 GMT
(Sports Network) - The Chicago White Sox will ride the arm of their hottest pitcher this afternoon in hopes of earning a split of a crucial four-game road series with the Detroit Tigers.
Jon Garland enters today's finale with victories in 10 of his last 11 decisions and a team-best 14 wins on the season. The right-hander has been superb over the second half of this year, posting a 6-1 mark with a 3.26 earned run average in seven starts since the All-Star break.
Garland is coming off back-to-back outstanding efforts, including Saturday's win at Minnesota in which he allowed one unearned run and five hits over 7 2/3 innings. Prior to that start, he threw seven frames of one-run ball to beat Kansas City on August 14.
The 26-year-old is 2-1 in his three starts against Detroit this year, although he has amassed a 6.63 ERA over the course of those games. However, Garland was great the last time he took the mound at Comerica Park, as he held the Tigers to a run and six hits over seven innings to notch a victory on July 18.
Overall Garland is 11-5 with a 4.51 ERA in 20 career games versus Detroit.
The Tigers padded their lead over the White Sox in the American League Central by taking the first two games of this set, but Chicago regrouped to earn a much-needed 7-5 victory last night. The win moved the Sox within 6 1/2 games of Detroit for first place in the division.
Jermaine Dye clubbed a three-run homer in the first inning and Joe Crede had a pair of solo shots to help Chicago snap a three-game skid. The White Sox also remained a half-game up on Minnesota for the lead in the AL wild card race.
The victory may have proved costly for Chicago, however, as slugger Jim Thome had to leave the contest in the second inning after straining his hamstring while legging out a double. He is not expected to be in the lineup for today's matchup.
Freddy Garcia (12-8) picked up the victory, allowing five runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 frames. Bobby Jenks pitched a scoreless ninth for his 36th save.
Dmitri Young hit a two-run homer and Sean Casey added a two-run double for Detroit.
Zach Miner (7-5) was saddled with the loss, yielding six runs on four hits before being yanked with one out in the second inning. The Detroit bullpen only surrendered one more run the rest of the way.
Chicago is now 10-5 against the Tigers this season and 24-10 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign. The White Sox own an impressive 19-9 record in Comerica since 2004.
Hard-luck left-hander Nate Robertson will take the mound for Detroit in the finale. The crafty southpaw has given up three or less runs in each of his last four starts but is just 1-3 over that span. The Tigers have mustered only four runs in those three defeats.
Robertson pitched well enough to win Saturday against Texas, as he allowed three runs -- one earned -- and only two hits over eight strong innings. But he ended up on the short end of a 3-1 setback.
The 28-year-old went up against Garland in that July 18th encounter and was the losing pitcher after yielding six runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. He's 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts against Chicago this season.
For his career Robertson owns a 4-5 record with a 4.41 ERA in 13 starts versus the White Sox.
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