| SEASON | CAREER |
| W8 | 28 |
| L8 | 39 |
| G21 | 92 |
| IP129.2 | 578.0 |
| BB31 | 115 |
| SO110 | 385 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W10 | 119 |
| L10 | 91 |
| G27 | 278 |
| IP187.0 | 1768.0 |
| BB42 | 541 |
| SO162 | 1716 |
After taking the opener in their crucial four-game series with Detroit, the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox can move four up on their closest challenger for the first time all season with another win over the second-place Tigers.
That could prove difficult, however, considering scheduled starter Jake Peavy hasn't been able to beat anyone except for the AL's worst team since the All-Star break.
Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder look to continue to frustrate Peavy and help Detroit avoid losing its fifth in a row Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Tigers (73-67) took an early 1-0 lead in Monday's opener on Jhonny Peralta 's RBI single in the second inning, and the score remained that way until the sixth, when Alex Rios hit a three-run homer and A.J. Pierzynski followed with his 26th home run. The White Sox (76-64) tacked on two more in the eighth on Gordon Beckham 's two-run shot and won 6-1 to move three up on Detroit and snap a seven-game losing streak in the series.
"This win being the first one of the series is pretty big," Rios said. "This whole series is pretty important for both of the teams. We are going to have a chance to maybe get a couple of games ahead if we win the series. It could decide what is going to happen at the end of the year."Seeking their first division crown since 2008, the White Sox give the ball to Peavy (10-10, 3.22 ERA), who unfortunately doesn't get to face Minnesota again.
Peavy allowed a run in six innings in a 6-2 victory over the Twins on Wednesday, snapping a five-start winless stretch. In his 10 starts since the All-Star break, he's posted a 1.35 ERA in winning his three games versus Minnesota, but is 0-5 with a 4.98 ERA against all other opponents.
That includes two starts against the Tigers, in which he's recorded a 6.92 ERA in losing each. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in five starts in the season series, with the White Sox losing each of the last four.
His struggles versus the Tigers shouldn't be too surprising considering Cabrera is 8 for 16 with two homers and a double against him this year, while Fielder is hitting .400 with two doubles in 15 at-bats.
Although Cabrera, Fielder and company have roughed up Peavy, Detroit's offense hasn't been doing much lately.
The Tigers have totaled six runs during a four-game skid, and have lost six of seven, scoring two runs or fewer in each defeat.
"When you're scoring one, two runs a game, you can hardly blame your defense for what's going on," Jim Leyland said. "Right now we're just not scoring runs."The only time Detroit managed any offense in the last week came in scheduled starter Doug Fister 's last outing, when he allowed a run and four hits in seven innings in Wednesday's 7-1 win over Cleveland.
Prior to that game, Fister (8-8, 3.54) gave up three runs, four hits and four walks in five innings of Detroit's 7-4 comeback win over Chicago on Aug. 31. That was his first start in 12 days after being sidelined because of right groin tightness.
The righty is 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA in five career starts versus the White Sox, but has done an excellent job of shutting down some of their top hitters. Paul Konerko is 3 for 15 lifetime against Fister, Kevin Youkilis is 2 for 12 and Pierzynski is 1 for 14.
Rios has had no trouble in matchups with Fister, though, batting .636 in 11 career at-bats.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPSERAQSSOBBSVBSBAAWHIPE
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Alex Avila | 8 | .125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .364 | .489 | .125 |
| Brennan Boesch | 7 | .286 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .375 | .661 | .286 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 28 | .143 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | .250 | .393 | .143 |
| Andy Dirks | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .750 | .500 |
| Prince Fielder | 18 | .222 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .300 | .633 | .333 |
| Austin Jackson | 9 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Don Kelly | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Gerald Laird | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 18 | .167 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .158 | .436 | .278 |
| Ryan Raburn | 4 | .250 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .250 | 1.250 | 1.000 |
| Ramon Santiago | 8 | .125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .125 | .250 | .125 |
| Delmon Young | 5 | .200 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .333 | 1.133 | .800 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Gordon Beckham | 10 | .300 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .417 | .717 | .300 |
| Adam Dunn | 2 | 1.000 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 2.167 | 1.500 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 11 | .182 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .182 | .637 | .455 |
| Paul Konerko | 12 | .250 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .583 | .333 |
| Brent Morel | 3 | 1.000 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2.333 | 1.333 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | 11 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 10 | .300 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .300 | .700 | .400 |
| Alex Rios | 8 | .875 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 1.889 | 1.000 |
 Detroit Tigers |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 23, 2012 | Doug Fister | Day-to-Day | Tightness in right groin |
| August 23, 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | Day-to-Day | Left game - Right ankle soreness |
| August 01, 2012 | Ryan Raburn | 15-Day DL | Sprained right thumb |
| August 01, 2012 | Ryan Raburn | 15-Day DL | Sprained right thumb |
| July 07, 2012 | Drew Smyly | 15-Day DL | Right intercostal strain |
| July 07, 2012 | Drew Smyly | 15-Day DL | Right intercostal strain |
 Chicago White Sox |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 07, 2012 | Adam Dunn | Day-to-Day | Strained right oblique |
| August 27, 2012 | Gavin Floyd | 15-Day DL | Right elbow flexor strain |
| August 26, 2012 | Gavin Floyd | Day-to-Day | Right elbow discomfort |
| August 25, 2012 | Dayan Viciedo | Day-to-Day | Right shoulder soreness |
| August 19, 2012 | Kevin Youkilis | Day-to-Day | Sore right knee |
| August 18, 2012 | Alejandro De Aza | 15-Day DL | Bruised left ribcage |
CHICAGO (AP) -- Doug Fister has been a different pitcher since the All-Star break.
And if he keeps throwing as he did against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, the Detroit Tigers ' rotation will be even more formidable in the closing days of a playoff race.
Fister allowed a pair of solo homers early and no other hits through seven innings as the Tigers beat the White Sox 5-3 to close Chicago's lead in the AL Central to two games.
"I wasn't trying to do too much, that was the biggest thing for me. I was just trying to stay inside myself and let the defense work," said Fister, who retired the final 14 batters he faced. "That was the name of my game tonight."
The only two hits Fister (9-8) gave up were solo homers to Dewayne Wise in the first and Gordon Beckham in the third that gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead. He walked two and struck out six and is 7-2 in 11 starts after the All-Star game.
"We've been pitching very good for a while. Tonight we did muster a few runs, it's not like we tore the cover off the ball, but we got enough. Our pitchers were pretty darn good," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said after his team ended a four-game losing streak."
Chicago starter Jake Peavy couldn't hold the early two-run lead. Austin Jackson hit a two-run homer in the fifth after a single by Omar Infante . And one batter later, Miguel Cabrera connected for his 36th of the season, a solo shot that put the Tigers on top.
"I think it relaxed everybody when we got on the board a little bit. We got that three-spot, I thought it relaxed everybody a little bit," Leyland said.
"The way Dougie was pitching, he had some quick innings, obviously. That's always good for your team. We needed to get back in the win column, tonight, and we did."
Peavy (10-11) threw 117 pitches in 5 2-3 innings, allowing six hits, walking two and striking out nine. He is 1-3 in six starts against the Tigers this season.
"You go back and relieve those and you'd like to make better pitches," Peavy said of the homers.
"There's no secrets. I've faced that same lineup. ...Those guys know what I'm going to do. I had good stuff tonight. When you do have good stuff you have a lot of foul balls, a lot of swing and misses and the pitch count got up extremely high with that."
The Tigers added two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Alex Avila and Andy Dirks and had the bases loaded before Cabrera hit into a double play.
Chicago got consecutive singles from Alexei Ramirez , Beckham and Alejandro De Aza off Joaquin Benoit to open the bottom of the eighth and cut the lead to 5-3. But Benoit regrouped to strike out Kevin Youkilis after he failed to get down a bunt and fanned Wise before retiring Paul Konerko on a grounder to end the threat.
Alex Rios reached on an infield single to start Chicago's ninth off Jose Valverde , who then retired the next three batters for his 29th save in 33 chances.
Wise, batting third with Adam Dunn missing a fifth straight game with a right oblique strain, hit a long two-out homer to right in the first, his eighth of the season. Beckham hit his career-high 15th homer and second in two nights, leading off the third.
But that was it against Fister.
"He was good tonight," Wise said. "After that first inning, I faced him and he had a pretty good breaking ball going. He just kept throwing that thing and we just kept chasing it."
NOTES: The Tigers had managed only six runs total during their four-game losing streak. ... Peavy has given up 22 homers this season. ... Wise has hit five of his homers with the White Sox. He also played with the Yankees this season. Chicago called him up on Aug. 11. ... Gavin Floyd (9-9) will come off the DL (elbow) and start Wednesday's game for the White Sox against Detroit's 15-game winner Max Scherzer . The finale has Justin Verlander facing Chris Sale on Thursday. ... Beckham had 14 homers in 2009 as a rookie. ... Chicago manager Robin Ventura said there's a chance Dunn and his team-high 38 homers could return to the lineup Wednesday.
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Detroit Tigers