White Sox aim for back-to-back wins over Tigers

The Chicago White Sox were able to pad their lead atop the American League Central standings with a win over the Detroit Tigers.

Now all they have to do is put together back-to-back wins.

Chicago will resume an important four-game series versus the Tigers on Tuesday and hasn't posted consecutive victories since a six-game winning streak from Aug. 20-26. The White Sox have alternated wins and losses over their last eight games and recorded an easy 6-1 win over Detroit last night.

Alex Rios, A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham all homered and Jose Quintana benefited from the support. Quintana struck out seven and allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings.

"This was big for us," Beckham said. "We really needed to win the first one."

Kevin Youkilis rejoined the White Sox after missing the last three games due to the birth of his son, and went 0-for-4. White Sox slugger Adam Dunn has missed four straight and six of nine games with a strained right oblique muscle, and is day-to-day.

"He has [had an MRI]. It's not clean, there's something there, but it's up to the player and how [he] heals," Chicago manager Robin Ventura told the team's website. "[White Sox head athletic trainer Herm Schneider] has got him in there doing stuff and everybody heals differently. So whenever he's healthy, he'll go."

The White Sox are three games ahead of Detroit for division bragging rights and 4-3 on a 10-game homestand. They have won 11 of their last 14 home games, and have homered 31 times in the past 16 games at U.S. Cellular Field.

Jake Peavy hopes to get some home run support when he takes the mound tonight and ended a five-game winless streak (0-3) in last Wednesday's 6-2 win over Minnesota. He allowed one run in six innings to even his 2012 record at 10-10 in 27 starts with a 3.22 earned run average.

Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner, lost at Detroit on Aug. 31 and gave up six runs in six innings of a 7-4 loss. The right-hander is 3-4 with a 4.81 ERA in 10 career starts against the Tigers.

Detroit had won seven in a row and 10-of-14 meetings with Chicago until last night's loss in the series opener.

Rick Porcello was reached for four runs -- three earned -- in 5 1/3 innings to absorb the loss, while Jhonny Peralta had the lone RBI for the Tigers, who have lost four straight overall and nine of 13 games.

"We had a pretty good ballgame going on until I gave up the home runs," Porcello said.

Detroit is 0-4 on a 10-game road trip and will also visit Cleveland on the trek. The Tigers will send Doug Fister to the mound tonight and he is 7-2 in his previous nine decisions following a dreadful start (1-6).

Fister held the Indians to a run and four hits in seven innings of a 7-1 win last Wednesday to even his record at 8-8 in 21 starts to go along with a 3.54 earned run average. The right-hander is winless in five career starts against the White Sox, going 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA, and is 3-5 in 10 road assignments.

The Tigers have a 30-23 record this season against division foes.