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Santana leads Twins against White Sox at Metrodome

A pair of tough left-handers will go head-to-head when the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox begin a three-game series tonight at the Metrodome.

Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana gets this evening's assignment for the host Twins, while the White Sox counter with ace Mark Buehrle.

Santana enters this outing having lost three of his last four starts, and the All-Star southpaw has allowed four runs in each of those three defeats. In his most recent mound trip, Santana was beaten by Detroit after yielding four runs over eight innings of work last Saturday.

The native Venezuelan's only win during that above-mentioned stretch came against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, when Santana limited Chicago to one run and five hits while fanning 10 batters over seven innings.

Santana is an impressive 13-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 27 career games (21 starts) versus the White Sox and has won all three of his starts against Chicago this season.

Buehrle is going through a rough period of his own, as the veteran is 0-3 in seven starts since defeating Detroit on August 3 for his most recent win. He was hit hard in his last appearance, surrendering seven runs (six earned) and 11 hits before exiting after 6 1/3 innings Sunday against the Angels. Buehrle did not factor in the decision of his team's 9-7 win.

The 28-year-old has also had career success against Minnesota, as he brings a 19-10 record with a 3.62 ERA in 32 appearances (30 starts) versus the Twins into tonight's tilt. In his lone start against Minnesota this year, Buehrle spun eight shutout innings to pick up a win back in July.

The Twins will be shooting for a fourth straight victory this evening, as the club swept a three-game set from Texas at the Metrodome earlier in the week. In Wednesday's finale, Matt Garza delivered 6 2/3 strong innings to lead Minnesota to a 4-2 decision.

Garza gave up just two runs -- one earned -- on six hits with five strikeouts for the Twins, who had lost four straight prior to the series. He got support from Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer, both of whom hit solo homers in the win.

Chicago began this current seven-game road trip by splitting four games with Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium. The White Sox mustered only two hits against the Royals' pairing of Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria in Thursday's 2-0 setback.

Jon Garland threw an eight-inning complete game for Chicago, with the right- hander allowing three runs and six hits without issuing a walk.

Minnesota holds an 8-7 edge in this year's season series with Chicago and has taken four of the six matchups between the clubs at home.

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