Josh Beckett will look for his first win in five starts as the visiting Boston Red Sox try to salvage a split of their four-game series with the Chicago White Sox in today’s Labor Day matinee.

Beckett is 0-1 with an 8.88 ERA in his last four starts, allowing 12 homers in those games after giving up 12 in his first 23 outings.

After the Red Sox lost the first two games of this series by a combined 17-3 score, Jon Lester shut down the White Sox in a 6-1 win Sunday.

Chicago had won four straight games before Sunday to prompt thoughts of a late surge, but the team will need to be almost flawless down the stretch to have any chance.

Mark Buehrle seeks a third straight quality start for the White Sox.

A win today would give the +145 White Sox their first series victory against the Red Sox since 2004.

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Beckett has generally struggled against the Blue Jays, going 3-5 with a 6.44 ERA while serving up 15 homers in 11 starts. He’s been even worse in his last three outings versus Toronto, posting an 0-2 record and a 14.59 ERA.

The Red Sox swept the Blue Jays at Fenway from May 19-21 to run their home winning streak against Toronto to five games. They’ve also taken five of nine road contests in the season series.

The Jays have struggled against East foes, going 17-34 to rank better only than Washington’s 13-34 mark within the NL East for baseball’s worst divisional record.

Scott Richmond will take the mound for the Jays, trying to end a personal three-game slide.

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Last night's 3-2 victory was the sixth win in the last seven meetings with Chicago for the Red Sox, who have taken 14 of 17 from the White Sox since 2007. After tonight the BoSox will get four more chances to extend that dominance when the clubs meet at U.S. Cellular Field over Labor Day weekend.

John Danks will get the ball for Chicago in the series finale as he tries to keep the club from losing a fifth straight. Danks has struggled against the Red Sox, losing all three times he’s started while compiling a 6.06 ERA.

Danks will be opposed by Red Sox rookie Junichi Tazawa, who has continually wiggled out of jams in his first three major league starts.

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The Red Sox have lost every road series since the All-Star break except for a three-game sweep of last-place Baltimore.

The club will feel good about its odds of rebounding with Beckett on the mound. The AL wins leader has strengthened his Cy Young Award resume with a 4-1 record and a 1.80 ERA in his last six starts.

Beckett went 0-2 with a 16.71 ERA in two starts against Toronto in 2008, and he’s 1-2 with a 6.85 ERA in four career starts at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays return home after a 2-4 road trip, and they’ll give the ball to Ricky Romero.

The Red Sox are listed as -160 road favorites in this one.

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Boston, which has won 11 of 13 overall against the Tigers, has never swept a season series from Detroit. It has accomplished the feat once against an AL opponent, going 4-0 versus Toronto in 1981.

Boston will have to deal with Verlander, who leads the AL with 186 strikeouts and is tied with four others for second in the league in wins behind Boston’s Josh Beckett.

Verlander is 1-3 with a 5.22 ERA in his last five road starts. He is 1-2 with a 5.49 ERA in three career outings against the Red Sox.

The Red Sox will give the ball to Clay Buchholz, who is searching for his first win in five trips to the mound.

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The Red Sox, who haven’t lost seven in a row since a nine-game skid in 2001, are 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East.

This four-game set against Detroit, however, could help turn things around for the -108 favored Red Sox.

Boston outscored Detroit 21-9 in sweeping a three-game road set from June 2-4, and has won four in a row and seven of eight between the clubs.

While the Red Sox look to revive their offense, they hope Brad Penny can avoid losing a third straight start.

Edwin Jackson, who will start for Detroit, has enjoyed an All-Star season, but is 2-4 with a 5.56 ERA in eight starts against Boston.

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Ortiz is hitting .250 with seven RBI in 10 games against Baltimore, but Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Jacoby Ellsbury have lifted the Red Sox to eight victories in the season series.

The trio is hitting a combined .378 with 27 RBI versus the Orioles, who have lost eight consecutive series to Boston.

Jeremy Guthrie, who will start for Baltimore, gave up five runs in a 7-2 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday, and has a 7.94 in two starts versus Boston this season.

The -125 favored Red Sox will hand the ball to John Smoltz.

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While poor pitching has often derailed Texas in the past, the Rangers’ struggling offense has been the culprit lately, scoring a total of just eight runs prior to a win on Sunday.

Boston managed just seven runs and 18 hits in the three-game series against Toronto, losing 3-1 to Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay on Sunday.

Smoltz earned his first victory with Boston on July 11, allowing one run and striking out seven in five innings of a 15-9 win over Kansas City.

In three July starts, Millwood is 0-2 with an 8.83 ERA, with his ERA rising from 2.64.

Boston (-105 favorites) has won six of its last seven games in Arlington, averaging seven runs over that span.

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Friday in the opener of the series the first-place BoSox will look to continue where they left off before the break and the Blue Jays will try to play spoiler.

The Red Sox, who are averaging 5.3 runs per game this season, will start the second half of the season against Ricky Romero. The lefthander has been a bright spot for the Jays, posting a 7-3 record, including four wins in his last five starts.

Earlier this season he lost to the Red Sox, giving up five runs in four innings pitched.

The Red Sox’s scheduled starter for Friday is Clay Buchholz.

This will be Buchholz’s first start this season and in his career he is 0-2 against the Blue Jays.

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