Chicago White Sox will try to ‘keep pressing the pedal’ as they trail the Cleveland Guardians by 4 games entering a crucial 3-game series

Three games.

Three opportunities for the Chicago White Sox to make up ground in the American League Central.

Three chances for the Cleveland Guardians to solidify their spot at the top of the division.

The Sox host the Guardians in a crucial series beginning Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“You’ve got to win that first game,” Sox outfielder AJ Pollock said after Sunday’s 11-5 win against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, “and then, yeah, you’ve got to keep pressing the pedal down.”

The Sox trail by four games after the Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 11-4 on Monday at Progressive Field.

The season series is an important factor if tiebreakers come into play, and the Guardians hold a 9-7 edge. The Sox lost six of the first seven meetings but have won six of the last nine — including a five-homer performance in an 8-2 victory in Thursday’s makeup game at Progressive Field.

Sox acting manager Miguel Cairo stressed the importance of looking at step one — Tuesday — instead of the bigger picture.

“You don’t want to be thinking like, ‘Go and sweep,’” Cairo said Sunday. “You concentrate on Tuesday, really play hard, go after it and dig in. You are going to win or you are going to lose. Hopefully it’s going to be on our side. We just have to concentrate one game at a time.”

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Outfielder Andrew Vaughn and pitcher Vince Velasquez echoed that approach.

“The next day’s not given,” Vaughn said. “Got to go out there and play that game, play as hard as you can and see what the end result is.”

Velasquez added: “We know what we’ve got to do. If we come out with a bang like we did (Sunday), if we keep playing fundamental baseball, keep applying pressure, trying to take the extra base, that’s something that’s going to obviously retaliate against them because we know Cleveland has done it against us.

“They’re always on the gas pedal from the first inning to the ninth. Even going against Minnesota, winning in 15 innings (in the second game of a doubleheader sweep Saturday), that’s something hard to endure. We have the potential as a squad to do something like that. It’s just finding the attributes and applying them all together as a squad.”

The Sox have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning eight of 11. They are 13-6 since Aug. 30, when Cairo stepped in for manager Tony La Russa, who has not received medical clearance to return to the dugout.

The Guardians also have been on a roll, winning 10 of 12.

“They’re playing good baseball,” Vaughn said. “We’re playing good baseball right now too. So it’s going to be a good battle.”

AL Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease starts Tuesday for the Sox, while Aaron Civale is scheduled for the Guardians.

Cease is 14-7 with a 2.16 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 29 starts this season, including 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts against the Guardians.

The loss came April 21 at Progressive Field, where he allowed four runs on eight hits in 5⅓ innings. He pitched five scoreless innings and struck out nine to win the second game of a July 12 doubleheader in Cleveland and scattered seven hits in six scoreless innings in a July 24 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

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Civale (2-6, 5.40 ERA) has made one start against the Sox this season and left after the first inning July 13 with a right wrist sprain. He has been on the injured list since Aug. 30 with right forearm inflammation.

Lance Lynn and Triston McKenzie are Wednesday’s probable starters.

Lynn (7-5, 3.99) allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk in 6⅓ innings in Thursday’s Sox win at Progressive Field. He’s 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts against the Guardians this season.

McKenzie (10-11, 3.08) is 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts against the Sox, including striking out 14 in seven innings during an Aug. 19 win at Progressive Field.

Johnny Cueto and Shane Bieber are slated for Thursday’s series finale.

Cueto (7-8, 3.09) was scratched from Saturday’s start against the Tigers because he was under the weather. He’s 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in two starts against the Guardians. He went 8⅔ innings, allowing five hits, in a 2-0 victory Aug. 20 at Progressive Field.

Bieber (11-8, 2.83) went the distance, allowing one run on three hits in a 4-1 victory against the Sox in the first game of a July 12 doubleheader at Progressive Field. He’s 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA in four starts against the Sox this season.

Twelve of the 16 meetings have been decided by three runs or fewer, with each team winning six of those games.

“Just got to go out there and play our game,” Vaughn said. “Pitch well, hit well (and) play defense.”