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* Boston has won three of the four games between these clubs so far this season. The Red Sox have also won six of the last eight meetings played at Chicago's home park.

* The Red Sox are averaging 7.2 runs per game over their last six road contests (5-1).

* The White Sox have a 2.03 team ERA so far this month.

* Jason Bay needs four runs batted in to reach 100 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

* Paul Byrd is making just his second appearance of the season for Boston. He is 4-1 all-time on the road against the White Sox.

* Paul Konerko is batting .353 (12-for-34) over his last 10 games.

*The Sox are 2-16 in their last 18 games at the Metrodome and have been outscored 105-66.

*The Sox are 16-24 in one-run games, third-worst in baseball. The Twins have won their last seven one-run games.

*Gordan Beckham is 14-for-31 against the Twins this season.

*Joe Mauer is hitting .398 vs. lefthanders this year and .311 against righties.

* Minnesota has won 14 of its last 16 home games against the White Sox, including a 5-1 record this season.

* The Twins have four players with at least 20 home runs (Morneau, Mauer, Cuddyer, Kubel) for the first time since their 1987 World Series-winning season (Hrbek, Brunansky, Gaetti, Puckett).

* Chicago is 1-6 on its current road trip after visits to Boston (1-3) and New York (0-3). The White Sox were outscored 23-5 in getting swept by the Yankees.

* Gordon Beckham leads all AL rookies in RBI (49) despite not making his debut until June 4. Beckham is only one behind the D-backs' Gerardo Parra (50) for the MLB lead among rookies.

* Gavin Floyd is 7-3 with a 2.77 ERA in 16 starts going back to June 1, ranking third in the AL in ERA over that span (min. 80 IP).

* Denard Span is batting .438 (21/48) over his last 12 games, with six extra-base hits and eight RBI.

* The Yankees have won five of their last seven games at home against the White Sox. The Yankees outscored the White Sox 53-28 in those seven games.

* The Yankees are hitting .295 in August; it's their highest average in a month this season.

* Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano are tied for the American League lead with 13 multi-hit games in August.

* CC Sabathia's 15 wins against the White Sox are tied for the most against any opponent in his career.

* The White Sox are 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts in their last 11 games.

* Scott Podsednik has hit safely in nine straight road games.

* The White Sox dropped a 5-4 decision to the Orioles yesterday and have now alternated wins and losses in each of their last eight games (WLWLWLWL). Chicago is just 5-13 on the road since July 4.
* Boston lost, 8-4, to the Yankees last night and dropped its first series at home since losing two of three to the Mariners, July 3-5. Overall, the Red Sox have won 11 of the last 15 meetings between these two teams since 2007.
* Jose Contreras is 3-2 with a 3.45 ERA following a White Sox loss since returning from the minors on June 8. Contreras has 10 career starts vs. the Red Sox and is 3-4 with an 8.14 ERA in those outings.
* Clay Buchholz lost his only career start vs. the White Sox last August (3 IP, 5 ER allowed) and is just 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in his last four home starts. Buchholz hasn't won a game at Fenway Park since May 2, 2008 vs. the Rays. 
* David Ortiz was held out of yesterday's game vs. the Yankees, but is sure to be in the lineup tonight. "Big Papi" has gone deep five times in his last eight games and since June 6, has 19 home runs overall - tied for most among all AL players since that date.
* White Sox starting pitchers have posted a combined ERA of just 3.56 on the road since June 12 (6.07 ERA in first 27 road games of 2009).

* The Twins have won 10 of the past 12 meetings with the White Sox in Minnesota. Twins relievers are 2-0 and have converted all five of their save opportunities against Chicago over that stretch.

* The White Sox salvaged the finale of their four-game series with Detroit by beating the Tigers on Sunday, 5-1. Chicago is 2-7 in road games since July 4.

* The Twins snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday. It had been Minnesota's second-longest skid of 2009.

* Jim Thome has blasted 57 career homers versus the Twins. That's the most ever by any player against the Twins since the team moved to Minnesota in 1961.

* A.J. Pierzynski is batting .356 in road games, the third-highest average by any White Sox player away from home since 1954 (minimum 150 PA).

* With two homers on Sunday, Justin Morneau assumed the American League lead with 26 home runs this season. He also drove in at least three runs for the 10^th time in 2009, tying for the most such games in the majors.

* The White Sox and Tigers have split eight meetings this year, including two in Detroit. In those games the average margin of victory was 3.50 runs.

* Detroit averages 5.49 runs per game at home this season, compared to just 3.96 runs per game on the road; the largest differential in the majors.

* Mark Buehrle pitched the 18^th perfect game in major league history yesterday against Tampa Bay. Buehrle's 116 pitches were the third highest pitch count in a perfect game.

* Jim Thome is slugging .644 against Detroit in his career including 132 RBI, the second highest slugging percentage and the most RBI (Paul Konerko is second with 118 RBI) of any active player against the Tigers (Minimum 150 PA).

* Miguel Cabrera is hitting just .279 (38/136) against the AL Central, compared to .379 (52/137) against the rest of the AL.

* Chicago has given up just 20 hits in its last four games (5.0 hits per game), compared to the 62 hits allowed in its previous five games (12.4 hits per game).

* Chicago has won three games in a row against the Royals after losing four of its first five meetings against them this season.

* The Royals have just one win in their last eight home games and have the second-most home losses overall among AL teams this season (22).

* The White Sox have won each of their last five games, scoring at least six runs in each of their contests in that span. At 13-4, the White Sox have the best road record in the majors since May 25.

* Chicago has won 13 of Mark Buehrle's last 15 starts against the Royals. Buehrle has 19 wins in his career against Kansas City which are the second most wins in his career against any opponent (23 vs. Twins).

* Bruce Chen will be making his second start of the season and will be seeking his first win since October 2, 2005. Chen is 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA in two career starts against the White Sox.

* Jermaine Dye is hitting .486 (17-for-35) with three homers, five doubles and nine RBI during his current nine-game hitting streak. Dye is 10-for-28 (.357) with two homers and six RBI in his seven meetings with Kansas City this season.