White Sox Upcoming Roadtrip May be Hit or Miss.

Let's face it, the White Sox have not had the best of luck on the road for the past few years. Going 35-46 last year on the road was one of the many reasons the White Sox were barely able to sneak past the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central Title. And let's try not to mention 2007's 34-47 road record. 2005 and 2006 were monumental years for the White Sox, posting a better away record than home going 52-29 in 2005, while going 41-40 in 2006. The White Sox have only posted 40 road wins a season only three times since 2000. And this upcoming 10 game road trip could be a deciding point to see if this year's away record will be a disaster or decide the fate of the White Sox in 2009.

The White Sox will face Detroit for two more games, then move into Tampa Bay to face the defending American League Champions, then off to Baltimore to face a surprisingly new and young team. With the White Sox taking the first game of the roadtrip 10-6 over Detroit, it's good to see there bats are well alive, but could sloppy pitching interfere? It's debatable, today's below freezing wind chills did not help either start pitcher, and Gavin Floyd, although giving up 7 walks, 6 earned runs, and 5 hits in 5 innings, did win the pitching battle today.

Tomorrow the White Sox will face Rick Porcello, who gave up 4 earned over 5 innings, including 2 homeruns in his first start this year against Toronto. But with Danks on the mound, the White Sox appear to leave there bats in the dugout when Danks is on the mound. Danks last year had an impressive 3.32 ERA last year but went 12-9 with 12 No Decisions, while Gavin Floyd who had a 3.84 ERA last year was able to bring in a team high 17 wins. Its apparent Danks will not get the run support again this year after losing a game to the Royals last week 2-1 with Danks on the mound. But tomorrow will be another test for the White Sox's offense, we know they can deliver, but will they be as inconsistant as they were last year? And will they be able to give Danks the run support he needs so we can't have another embarrasing 2-1 loss like we had last week against the Royals.

Finally, the series wraps up on Wednesday afternoon in Detroit as Jose Contreras will face Armando Galarraga, who finished 4th last year in the American League Rookie voting with a 13-7 record. Contreras certaintly did not show his World Series form last Friday by giving up 4 earned in 5 innings while picking up the loss, but did show he was healthy and ready to pitch and erase 2007s 10-17 record and bring back his healthy splitter that made him the World Series Game One starter he once was. Contreras hold a 4-4 record at Comerica Park. But our biggest opponent that game may be Armando Galarraga, who in his first start this year, triumphed the powering Texas Rangers going 7 innings, giving up only 1 run, and striking out 8.

Let's not forget also that Detroit has many players in their lineup that are off to amazingly hot starts. The White Sox will have to watch out for Miguel Cabrera, who was traded for last year from the Marlins and already has 3 home runs and 10 RBI to start the year with a .467 average. Another name to watch for is Brandon Inge, who is off to one of the hottest starts in his career, he already has 4 homers with 7 rbis. Lastly, the Tigers closer Fernando Rodney is off to a good start, he has 3 innings pitched, 2 saves out of 2 chances, and has yet to give up a hit this year.

Stay tuned in the next few days for the preview of the upcoming ALDS rematch between the White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.

- James (White Sox writer)