White Sox' Danks: We're going to be just fine
Starting to notice some resemblance between this year's White Sox team and the 2011 edition?
The glaring lack of clutch hitting by some usual suspects and wasted pitching certainly can take you back to a forgettable season, but Sox starter John Danks was having none of it following Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field.
“The feeling in here (clubhouse) is nothing like last year,” Danks said. “This group of guys is tough enough and good enough to bounce back. We just need to continue to throw the ball well and get some good, timely hitting and we're going to be just fine.”
Danks might be right — the White Sox are only 10 games into a long season.
But they got off to a 5-3 start last year, slid all the way to 11-22 and never fully recovered.
After getting off to another 5-3 start under new manager Robin Ventura, the Sox are at the .500 mark following their second straight loss to Baltimore.
Ventura was anxious to see how his players would respond after blowing a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning Monday night and losing 10-4 in 10 innings.
Danks kept the White Sox in the game before hitting the wall in the sixth inning.
The left-hander gave up a 2-run homer to the red-hot Nolan Reimold, and J.J. Hardy followed with a solo shot to put the Orioles in front 3-0.
“I made a mistake to a pretty hot hitter with Reimold,” Danks said. “Then I got into a hitter's count (2-0) with Hardy and he did what he's supposed to do.”
In the bottom of the sixth, A.J. Pierzynski did what he's been doing all season. The veteran catcher stroked a 2-run double off Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen to get the Sox back in the game, but that was as close as they'd get.
Alejandro De Aza tripled with two outs in the seventh inning, but he was stranded when Brent Morel struck out.
In the ninth, Alex Rios drew a leadoff walk and Dayan Viciedo reached first on an error with one out, but pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome lined out to Orioles third baseman Wilson Betemit, who has always struggled with the glove.
Betemit followed with a nice play on Morel's slow roller to end the game.
“It stinks,” Danks said. “I had good enough stuff and good enough command to win with 2 runs.”
Danks could have had more offensive support, but the White Sox stranded 9 runners and were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
“It's frustrating, but I like that kind of fight,” Ventura said. “When you battle at-bat after at-bat, you're going to win a lot more games than you lose.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com