Boston @ Chicago preview
Guaranteed Rate Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 5, 2010 ) Chi. White Sox 7, Boston 5
After making things difficult for their rivals for the past week, the Boston Red Sox visit the Chicago White Sox for their final road series of the season.
The Red Sox have been all but eliminated from the playoff race as they trail the New York Yankees by 6 1/2 games with just seven games to play.
Boston put a scare into New York before falling to the Yankees, 4-3, in 10 innings in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday night.
The Red Sox held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth but New York scored a run off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon on an RBI single by Robinson Cano to tie the game. The Yankees then received a bases-loaded walk by Juan Miranda to force in the winning run in the 10th off Hideki Okajima.
While the odds that the Red Sox would have caught the Yankees even if they had won Sunday's game were remote, Boston certainly made things interesting.
The Yankees had hoped to skip Phil Hughes' turn in the rotation, but after Boston won the first two games of the series, New York started Hughes anyway in hopes of snapping its four-game skid.
Boston also scored twice off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning.
But there will be no miracles this year. The Red Sox have been victimized by walk-off losses 11 times this season, the most in the American League.
Clay Buchholz (16-7) makes Monday's start for the Red Sox. He is second in the American League to Seattle's Felix Hernandez with a 2.39 ERA. Buchholz didn't allow an earned run in his last outing, but the Red Sox still dropped a 9-1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles.
Buchholz went six innings in the contest and surrendered just an unearned run when second baseman Marco Scutaro dropped a pop fly that would have been the third out in the sixth inning.
Papelbon's problems have been persistent. Sunday night was Papelbon's career-high eighth blown save of the season. Over his last 7 1/3 innings, he has allowed 14 hits and 11 runs.
The White Sox were eliminated from the playoff picture early last week. Chicago, which has won four straight games, starts left-hander Mark Buehrle (12-12) on Monday.
Buehrle is 6-5 lifetime against the Red Sox with a 4.48 ERA. He allowed 10 hits and four runs in his last outing against Boston earlier in the month. Chicago eventually won the game 7-5.
Chicago has won all three meetings between the two teams this season, including a doubleheader sweep at Fenway.
The White Sox are coming off a three-game sweep against the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend. Juan Pierre led the way in Sunday's 4-3 win with an RBI triple in the seventh inning. He then scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a single by 43-year-old Omar Vizquel.
Pierre leads the majors with 61 stolen bases.