Sale, White Sox aim to sweep Yankees out of Chicago

Chris Sale continues to state his case for being the best pitcher in the American League. On Wednesday he'll try to help the Chicago White Sox complete a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at U.S. Cellular Field.

Sale has been a big reason why the White Sox sit atop the American League Central standings, as he is 14-4 with a 2.72 ERA. He was denied his 15th win on Friday in Kansas City, as the Royals ripped him for four runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

This will be Sale's first-ever start against the Yankees, but he has faced them three times out of the bullpen and has not yielded a run in 3 1/3 innings.

Tonight he'll try to help the White Sox break the brooms out on the Yankees at home for the first time since Aug. 6-8, 1991 after taking the first two of this set. On Tuesday, Kevin Youkilis broke open a tie game with a grand slam in the fifth inning, and Chicago rolled to a 7-3 win.

Paul Konerko went 2-for-4 with a solo homer while Gordon Beckham also had two hits and drove in a run for the Sox, who had lost six straight to the Yanks at home before this set.

Francisco Liriano (5-10) earned a second straight victory after allowing two runs on six hits over six frames. He struck out seven and walked three.

"We had some opportunities, but (Liriano) made some big pitches when he had to," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We made him work, we just weren't able to get a lot of runs off him."

Ivan Nova (11-7) also pitched six innings, but surrendered six runs on seven hits to take the loss, New York's fourth in its last six games.

Hoping to salvage Wednesday's finale for the Yankees will be inconsistent righty Phil Hughes, who is 12-10 with a 4.23 ERA. Hughes earned a win on Friday against Boston, as he allowed four unearned runs and four hits in seven innings to snap a two-game losing streak.

Hughes beat the White Sox with a terrific effort earlier in the year and is 3-1 lifetime against them with a 1.13 ERA in nine games (5 starts). He surrendered two runs in eight innings to get the win back on July 1.

These teams split four games in the Bronx earlier in the year.