(Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians will attempt to climb back into the American League Central race when the disappointing club plays the first of three straight matchups with the current division leaders, the Chicago White Sox, tonight at U.S. Cellular Field.

The 2007 AL Central champion Indians are currently tied with perennial doormat Kansas City for last place in the standings, 9 1/2 games behind the front- running White Sox. But in order to gain ground, Cleveland will have to knock off a Chicago squad that has been nearly invincible at home in recent weeks.

Chicago has won six in a row and 15 of its last 17 games at U.S. Cellular Field, where the team has amassed an excellent 27-11 record so far this season. The White Sox are fresh off an impressive three-game sweep of the NL Central-leading Cubs over the weekend, in which they outscored their city rivals by a 21-9 margin.

In Sunday's series finale, Mark Buehrle threw seven strong innings and the White Sox belted three home runs en route to a 5-1 triumph.

Buehrle (6-6) gave up one unearned run and six hits to lead the White Sox to their fifth win in six games. He received plenty of help from Jim Thome and Brian Anderson, both of whom clubbed two-run homers in last night's win.

Carlos Quentin added a solo blast for the Sox, his 19th homer of the season. That ties the outfielder with Cleveland's Grady Sizemore and Texas' Josh Hamilton for the most long balls in the AL this year.

Cleveland will also have to overcome Gavin Floyd's season-long success at U.S. Cellular Field in tonight's opener. The right-hander's breakthrough campaign has been built on a string of strong showings at home, where Floyd has gone 5-1 with a 2.70 earned run average in eight starts.

The 25-year-old has been struggling some as of late, however. Over his last three starts, Floyd is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA and has failed to last six innings in either of his two most recent outings. He was hit hard by the Dodgers this past Wednesday, allowing five runs (4 earned) in 5 1/3 frames of a 5-0 loss in Los Angeles.

Floyd is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two career starts against the Indians. That win came in Cleveland back on May 28, although he gave up five runs (4 earned) in six innings.

The Tribe has lost five of its last seven games and is coming off back-to-back home losses to Cincinnati. The Reds pounded Cleveland pitching for 14 hits en route to a 9-5 decision in Sunday's finale.

Indians starter Aaron Laffey (4-5) was touched for five runs on eight hits in five innings of work. Sizemore finished 2-for-5 and hit his 19th homer of the season in a losing cause.

Ben Francisco added a two-run homer for Cleveland, which begins an eight-game road trip against AL Central foes Chicago, Minnesota and Detroit this evening.

Jeremy Sowers takes the hill for the Indians tonight and hopes to end a long winless stretch. The former top prospect has gone 10 starts since his last major-league win, which came on May 24, 2007, and is 0-3 with a 5.97 ERA through six mound trips this season.

Sowers did deliver a solid showing his last time out, albeit in a loss. The 25-year-old held San Francisco to three runs over a season-best seven innings on Wednesday.

The former Vanderbilt standout's only career start against Chicago came last season at U.S. Cellular Field. Sowers gave up two runs and just one hit in six innings of that test, but wound up with a no-decision.

The White Sox have won six of their nine 2008 encounters with the Indians and swept a three-game set from the Tribe in the Windy City from May 20-22.