The Chicago White Sox will hit the road for the first time this season when they open a three-game series against the Washington Nationals Tuesday night.
The White Sox are scheduled to play 10 straight on the road and will also visit Cleveland and Toronto on the swing.
Chicago improved to 4-2 on the season after taking the last two installments of a three-game series versus the Seattle Mariners, including Sunday's 4-3 victory in 10 innings. Dayan Viciedo was the hero with a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning off Mariners reliever Kameron Loe. Alex Rios and Adam Dunn both homered as well for Chicago.
Chris Sale started for the White Sox and did not record a decision with seven innings of three-run ball. He also struck out seven and walked two. Addison Reed tossed a scoreless 10th inning for the win.
"We're here to do our job, but also pick each other up," Sale said.
Jake Peavy looks to build on a solid first start of the season when he takes the ball for Chicago Tuesday. Peavy, who went 11-12 in 32 starts last season, opened the new campaign in last Wednesday's 5-2 win over Kansas City.
Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner with San Diego, delivered six innings of four-hit ball and allowed two runs -- one of which was earned. He struck out six batters and did not issue a walk. The right-hander is 4-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 11 career games (10 starts) against the Nationals.
Pegged to win the NL East and possibly represent the National League in the World Series, the Nationals are back home for six straight games and lost two of three matchups in Cincinnati over the weekend.
In Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Reds, Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg surrendered nine hits and six runs over 5 1/3 frames to absorb the loss. He walked four and had five strikeouts, just six days after throwing seven shutout frames against the Marlins.
"It's about making your pitches. He didn't make as good pitches as he did the first or second inning. It was a tough one," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of the right-hander.
Kurt Suzuki had a big day at the plate with three hits, including a home run, and three RBI. Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa both scored runs for Washington, which opened the season with a three-game sweep of Miami.
The Nationals will also host Atlanta for three games on the homestand.
Washington will hand the ball to Gio Gonzalez Tuesday and he began the 2013 season in impressive fashion. Gonzalez allowed only two hits in six scoreless innings, struck out five and walked two batters in last Wednesday's 3-0 blanking of Miami. He also homered in the fifth inning.
The left-hander was 21-8 in 32 starts a season ago and is winless (0-4) in five career starts against the White Sox with a 5.86 ERA. One of those starts was a complete-game effort.
The Nationals last faced the White Sox during the 2011 season, winning two of three contests at U.S. Cellular Field.
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