It's a matchup of two unbeaten pitchers, but the comparisons don't go much further.

Chris Sale is off to a historic start for the Chicago White Sox, who host Josh Tomlin and the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

Dating to his last outing of 2015, Sale (9-0, 1.58 ERA) has won 10 straight starts with a 1.55 ERA while never giving up more than three runs.

He continued the run with little support in Thursday's 2-1 home win over Houston, surrendering a run and four hits while striking out nine in a second straight complete game.

"He's pretty darn good,'' teammate Jimmy Rollins told MLB's official website. "Obviously what he's doing hasn't been done in an awful long time. It's special. He has a mission. He takes it on himself every time he takes the ball to go nine, and he's done a damn good job.''

The left-hander is now in position to be the first big leaguer to win 11 straight starts since Justin Verlander went 12 straight from July 21-Sept. 18, 2011. The last White Sox pitcher to do it was LaMarr Hoyt with 11 in a row in 1983-84.

The last pitcher to begin a season with wins in 10 straight starts was San Diego's Andy Hawkins in 1985, and Eddie Cicotte was the last to do it for the franchise with 12 straight for the infamous 1919 Black Sox before receiving a lifetime ban following 1920 for his part in allegedly throwing the World Series.

And Sale, who went eight straight starts with at least 10 strikeouts last season, is winning this year without once reaching that mark. His 8.17 strikeouts per nine innings is easily the lowest mark of his career after posting an 11.82 mark last season.

"It's not that I'm not trying to throw hard; I'm trying to throw smarter,'' Sale said. "I'm not coming out of my shoes. I'm still giving everything I've got, but it's under control. It's max effort, under control. Instead of 115 percent, it's 100 percent.''

The Indians gave him some comparative trouble on April 9 with Sale giving up three runs and six hits with two home runs in a 7-3 home win. That's held true throughout his career with a 5-6 record and 3.98 ERA in 15 starts against Cleveland.

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are both 5 for 13 against Sale, but Lonnie Chisenhall (1 for 9) and Mike Napoli (2 for 16) have struggled.

Tomlin (6-0, 3.56) gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 7-2 win in Cincinnati on Thursday for his longest outing of the year. The right-hander was impressive through his first two starts with two runs allowed in 11 2/3 innings, but he's since been the beneficiary of an 8.33 run-support average. He's 4-0 with a 4.31 ERA in those five starts, so the latest effort was a return to a deserved win and set up him to be the first Indians pitcher to win his first seven decisions since Dennis Martinez won his first nine in 1995. Cliff Lee also started 6-0 in 2008.

Tomlin is 2-2 with a 3.44 ERA in six starts and a relief appearance against the White Sox. Jose Abreu (3 for 5 with a home run and a double) and Austin Jackson (7 for 16 with a home run, triple and three doubles) have hit him well, but Melky Cabrera (1 for 14) and Adam Eaton (1 for 9) have not.

Chicago (27-19) opened the series with a 7-6 win in Game 1 of Monday's doubleheader before Cleveland (23-20) won 5-1 in Game 2 to end a three-game losing streak.

"We needed the win," manager Terry Francona said.

Chicago's Todd Frazier is 6 for 10 with two home runs and a double in his last three games.

The Indians have averaged 6.8 runs per game over a 6-3 span. Getting anywhere near that against Sale would be a success.