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White Sox Hope To Avoid Sweep North Of The Border

(Sports Network) - The Chicago White Sox try to avoid being swept for the first time this season when they conclude their three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

On Saturday, Shea Hillenbrand homered just inside the pole in left field in the bottom of the 11th inning, as Toronto edged the White Sox 3-2.

Hillenbrand finished with two hits, and both Frank Catalanotto and Gregg Zaun knocked in a run for Toronto, which has won four of its last five games.

Scott Schoeneweis (1-0) got the win after giving up two hits in a third of an inning in the second contest of the three-game set at the Rogers Centre. Rookie Casey Janssen started Saturday for the Blue Jays and allowed seven hits and a run over 5 1/3 frames.

Joe Crede went 3-for-5 with a run scored, and A.J. Pierzynski and Juan Uribe had two hits apiece for the White Sox, who are in danger of being swept in a road series for the first time since September 14-16, 2004. Jeff Nelson (0-1) took the loss after surrendering Hillenbrand's homer, but the big story was the White Sox leaving 13 men on base.

Chicago starter Jose Contreras, who has a personal 13-game winning streak dating back to last season, gave up a run on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts over seven innings.

Taking the hill for the White Sox today will be Jon Garland, who is coming off a no-decision against the Oakland Athletics on Monday. In that game, the right-hander went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three home runs, four earned runs and 10 hits. He has allowed seven home runs in his past three starts and 13 on the season. Opponents are batting .325 against Garland, who has allowed seven or more earned runs in a game on three occasions this season.

In 12 career appearances, 10 starts, against the Blue Jays, Garland is 6-2 with a 3.88 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings.

Opposing Garland this afternoon is rookie Ty Taubenheim. The young right- hander made his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies on May 20th, allowing three earned runs and five hits in five innings of a 5-1 loss. He threw one shutout inning of relief against Tampa Bay on Wednesday in his only other appearance of the season.

The Blue Jays are 17-9 at home this season, while Chicago is 12-11 on the road.

The White Sox took two of three from the Blue Jays at U.S. Cellular Field in mid-April and are 6-5 against them since the start of the 2005 season. Chicago swept a three-game set in their only visit to Toronto last year.

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