(Best E Casino) - Nick Blackburn will try to put a pair of horrid outings behind him and pull the Minnesota Twins closer to the top of the AL Central standings tonight, when he toes the rubber in the second test of a three-game series versus the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome.

Blackburn, who is 10-10 with a 4.15 earned run average in 31 starts, allowed six runs and nine hits in four innings of a 7-3 loss at Baltimore on September 14. He then permitted six more runs and 13 hits in only 1 1/3 frames of his team's 11-1 setback against Tampa Bay on Friday.

He is just 1-4 in his past five decisions, but 7-3 at home this season.

The right-hander is 1-2 in four starts against Chicago this season and 1-2 with a 5.63 ERA in five lifetime encounters (4 starts) with the division-rival White Sox.

Minnesota hopes Blackburn can pull the team within a half-game of the White Sox for division supremacy in Wednesday's second installment of this series. In Tuesday's series-opening 9-3 victory, Jason Kubel hit a pair of homers and ended with three RBI to lead Minnesota, which is now 1 1/2 games off the pace in the Central standings.

Delmon Young finished 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI for the Twins, while Nick Punto and Carlos Gomez each had two hits and knocked in a run. Starter Scott Baker collected the win after he allowed one run on five hits in seven solid innings.

Chicago will try to bounce back from its big loss last night. Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer in Tuesday's setback, the fourth in six tries for the White Sox. Griffey recorded the 610th home run of his career to move ahead of Sammy Sosa for fifth place on the all-time list.

Starting pitcher Javier Vazquez was tagged for five runs on seven hits in just four innings of work to suffer the loss.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen hopes Mark Buehrle can extend his current unbeaten streak when the southpaw takes the mound on Wednesday. Buehrle is 3-0 over his past four starts and defeated Kansas City in a 9-4 win on Friday, when he allowed three runs in six innings.

Buehrle, who is 6-1 with a 3.36 ERA in his nine most recent starts, improved to 14-11 with a 3.87 earned run average in 32 trips to the hill in 2008. He is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in three starts against Minnesota this season and 21-12 in 36 lifetime meetings (34 starts) with the Twins.

Chicago and Minnesota have split 16 matchups so far this season, but the Twins are 6-1 versus the Pale Hose at the Metrodome. The Twins have won four of their last five contests against the White Sox -- all in Minneapolis.