JakePeavy
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W10 | 119 |
| L11 | 92 |
| G28 | 279 |
| IP192.2 | 1774.0 |
| BB44 | 543 |
| SO171 | 1725 |
ScottDiamond
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W11 | 12 |
| L7 | 12 |
| G23 | 30 |
| IP148.1 | 187.0 |
| BB26 | 43 |
| SO79 | 98 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W10 | 119 |
| L11 | 92 |
| G28 | 279 |
| IP192.2 | 1774.0 |
| BB44 | 543 |
| SO171 | 1725 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W11 | 12 |
| L7 | 12 |
| G23 | 30 |
| IP148.1 | 187.0 |
| BB26 | 43 |
| SO79 | 98 |
The AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox have struggled against their next two opponents.
That definitely hasn't been the case against the lowly Minnesota Twins .
Jake Peavy will try to win his fourth consecutive start versus Minnesota on Sunday when Chicago goes for the sweep and a 14th victory over the Twins in 2012.
Monday was supposed to be the White Sox's final off day of the regular season, but instead of heading to Kansas City, Chicago (78-66) will fly back home to face Detroit in a make-up of Thursday's rainout that will be the last scheduled meeting between the Central's top two teams.
The White Sox are just one game above .500 in divisional play - they've dropped 12 of 17 to the Tigers and 10 of 15 to the Royals - but they've owned the Twins (60-86).
Chicago improved to 13-4 against Minnesota on Saturday when former Twin Francisco Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 5-2 victory.
While the decision to move Liriano into the rotation following a one-game bullpen stint worked out, Chicago hopes pushing Peavy (10-11, 3.27 ERA) up a day will too. The right-hander was slated to pitch Monday, but Jose Quintana will start versus the Tigers. That will give the young left-hander and Gavin Floyd , who just came off the disabled list, an extra day of rest.
Peavy has struggled in the second half - opponents are hitting .276 off him during this stretch after batting .213 before the All-Star break - but the right-hander has been at his best versus Minnesota, posting a 1.35 ERA while winning all three starts against the Twins since the Midsummer Classic.
Peavy is 0-6 in his other eight second-half starts.
The Twins, losers of four of five, will counter with Scott Diamond (11-7, 3.46) as these teams conclude their season series.
Minnesota totaled two runs as the left-hander lost his first two starts against the White Sox in 2012, but the Twins gave Diamond plenty of support in an 18-9 victory at Chicago on Sept. 4 when he threw five innings of four-run ball.
Diamond, who has one win in his last six starts after giving up four runs and a career high-tying 10 hits in Tuesday's 9-1 loss to Royals, has the majors' highest-run support average at 7.22.
He's also among the majors' best with 1.58 walks per nine innings.
Diamond can't afford to give the White Sox any free base runners. They are batting .282 and scoring 6.1 runs per game against Minnesota this season.
Alex Rios , the only current White Sox with a homer off Diamond, needs one home run to match the fourth-most in a season against the Twins with nine.
Paul Konerko is batting .364 with five homers and 15 RBIs against Twins pitching in 2012 after hitting a two-run shot and driving in three Saturday.
Konerko is second among active players with 48 homers and 126 RBIs versus Minnesota.
It's uncertain if Joe Mauer or Ryan Doumit will return to the Twins' lineup. Mauer has missed five games with back spasms, while Doumit has been sidelined since Wednesday with a strained oblique.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Gordon Beckham | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Tyler Flowers | 5 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Paul Konerko | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Brent Lillibridge | 5 | .400 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1.700 | 1.200 |
| Brent Morel | 4 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 6 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .334 | .167 |
| Alex Rios | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 5 | .400 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .400 | .800 | .400 |
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Jamey Carroll | 11 | .273 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .606 | .273 |
| Alexi Casilla | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .833 | .500 |
| Ryan Doumit | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Jason Marquis | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Joe Mauer | 15 | .267 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .267 | .667 | .400 |
| Justin Morneau | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1.167 | .500 |
| Chris Parmelee | 3 | .667 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 | 1.334 | .667 |
| Carl Pavano | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .250 | .000 |
| Trevor Plouffe | 9 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .889 | .556 |
| Ben Revere | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Denard Span | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Danny Valencia | 8 | .125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .125 | .250 | .125 |
| Josh Willingham | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .200 | .200 | .000 |
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 27, 2012 | Gavin Floyd | 15-Day DL | Right elbow flexor strain |
| 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 |
Minnesota Twins |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 11, 2012 | Joe Mauer | Day-to-Day | Back spasms |
| September 09, 2012 | Cole De Vries | 15-Day DL | Cracked rib |
| September 02, 2012 | Josh Willingham | Day-to-Day | Slightly strained left hamstring |
| August 28, 2012 | Denard Span | 15-Day DL | Strained right sternoclavicular joint |
| August 28, 2012 | Denard Span | 15-Day DL | Strained right sternoclavicular joint |
| August 24, 2012 | Josh Willingham | Day-to-Day | Stiff neck |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Adam Dunn said he feels fine and Jake Peavy was in good spirits after notching another win. The Chicago White Sox look ready for the stretch run, with a big test coming in less than 24 hours.
Peavy baffled Minnesota again, Dayan Viciedo and Dunn homered, and the White Sox beat the Twins 9-2 on Sunday.
Chicago scored six runs in the sixth inning to support Peavy (11-11) and stay ahead of Detroit in the AL Central.
The Tigers were playing Cleveland on Sunday and travel to Chicago for a makeup game on Monday. It will be the final time the two teams meet this season.
"It's going to be a game with a lot of emotion," Peavy said. "We got our hands full, but at the same time we think we can get it done."
Joe Mauer homered in his return after missing five games with back spasms, but the Twins weren't able to avoid the sweep and lost to Chicago for the 13th time in 16 games.
After Alexi Casilla 's double in the fifth made it 3-2, Dunn and Viciedo went deep off Scott Diamond (11-8) in the sixth to squash the Twins' comeback.
Dunn opened the inning with a towering solo shot that traveled 415 feet before finally falling into the first row of the upper deck in right field and bouncing back on the field.
Viciedo drove his 21st home run - and Chicago's 192nd as a team - into the upper deck in left after Alex Rios tripled.
Chicago batted around and added three more unearned runs in the sixth, capped by Dunn's RBI single.
The slugger returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing seven games with a strained muscle on his right side. He said he feels fine and is ready to contribute down the stretch.
"Seemed to work out perfect," Dunn said. "I'm going to be in there tomorrow. That's what I wanted. I wanted to be able to play against those guys and the rest of the season. It worked out."
Peavy allowed two runs and struck out six in six innings. The right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA against the Twins since the All-Star break and 0-6 in eight starts against everyone else over that time.
After Mauer homered in the first, Peavy retired the next eight Twins hitters before Mauer doubled in the fourth.
Justin Morneau walked, but Peavy struck out Ryan Doumit and Chris Parmelee to end the threat and keep Chicago in front.
White Sox pitchers allowed just five runs on 12 hits in the three-game series.
"They're going to be right there, as they are right now," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said about the White Sox. "That's a very good baseball team built with a good pitching staff. There are a lot of arms that come out of that pen throwing really hard and they have some starters that have been there and done it."
Following Monday's makeup game, the White Sox travel to Kansas City for a three-game series with the Royals. Chicago has won just 10 of its last 22 games against Detroit and Kansas City.
"Detroit is a great team. They're going to take care of business," Peavy said. "We're trying to win this thing ourselves and not have anyone else have to win or have to lose for us. It sure is nice when that happens, but Detroit's a great them and they aren't going anywhere."
Diamond has just one win in his last seven starts after getting off to a hot start.
After allowing a career-worst 10 hits in his last outing, Diamond surrendered six runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings on Sunday.
Minnesota is done playing Chicago, but can still help its rival out down the stretch. Six of the Twins' final 15 games are against the Tigers.
"We're playing some playoff teams from here on out and we're going to give them everything we have," Gardenhire said.
Kevin Youkilis and Dewayne Wise each added two RBIs as the White Sox earned their ninth sweep and second over Minnesota.
"It was good all the way around," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Home runs are good, but I like the ones where we just push a couple across there."
NOTES: Jose Quintana (6-4, 3.52) will start for the White Sox against the Tigers on Monday. The rookie beat Detroit on Sept. 10, allowing one run and striking out seven in seven innings. Quintana had allowed 12 runs in his previous two starts and will be pitching on an extra two days of rest. "It actually does feel good about this time of season to get a couple extra days," he said. "It gives your arm a little extra strength so I'll feel good for tomorrow." ... Twins slugger Josh Willingham was given the day off and Ben Revere played left field. ... Youkilis' double to center in the third just missed clearing the wall. Youkilis needs one more home run to become the sixth White Sox player with at least 20 this season. ... Out since Wednesday with an oblique strain, Doumit caught for the Twins and went 0 for 3.