Danks, White Sox fall flat in loss to Indians
Just when it looked like John Danks was turning the corner, he hit another curb.
Collectively, the White Sox performed about as well as a car with four flat tires in Thursday night's 5-2 loss to the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field.
But en route to falling to Cleveland for the third straight night on the South Side, the Sox were ultimately done in by Danks' poor showing in the first inning.
"I made some bad pitches that got hit," Danks said. "I wasn't throwing strikes. It's tough to pitch behind in the count. You have to get ahead and stay ahead."
Pitching out of the stretch and accelerating his move to the plate, Danks was 1-0 while allowing just 3 earned runs over 14 innings in his 2 previous starts.
"Getting ahead of guys," catcher Tyler Flowers said of Danks' key to success. "I think that's big for him with the deception he tries to use. He's changing speeds and mixing up tempos in his delivery.
"But being able to get strike one is definitely a big help to put them a little bit more on the defense, and I think it entices them to swing at some more change-ups early in counts or cutters that he's been doing a good job of locating."
Against Cleveland, Danks quickly fell behind. "I dug too big of a hole and got beat," he said.
Jason Kipnis led off the game with a double, Carlos Santana walked, and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch.
Michael Brantley's single scored Kipnis, but Danks appeared to be in much better shape after Ryan Raburn grounded into a double play that scored Santana.
Danks got into further trouble when Nick Swisher and Mike Aviles followed with back-to-back solo home runs to make it 4-0 Cleveland.
The White Sox never recovered.
"The last two times out (Danks) was great," manager Robin Ventura said. "Tonight, that wasn't the case. He didn't pitch well early on. But we didn't hit, either. A combination of that is not a good recipe."
The Sox had two on and one out in the first inning, but Indians starter Danny Salazar struck out Adam LaRoche and Avisail Garcia.
Trailing 5-0 in the third inning, the White Sox loaded the bases before Garcia struck out swinging again.
For the game, the Sox managed just 7 hits and were facing a shutout before Flowers hit a 2-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Sox were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position Thursday. In the four-game series against Cleveland, they only scored 8 runs.
"(Salazar) was teetering on getting us back in the game, but we couldn't," Ventura said. "It's not looked too good the last few days. One way or another, we need to turn it around. It needs to get better."
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Sox scouting report
White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Sunday; WGN Saturday
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Pitching matchups: The Sox' Jeff Samardzija (3-2) vs. Phil Hughes (3-4) today at 7:10 p.m.; Chris Sale (3-1) vs. Trevor May (2-3) Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Jose Quintana (2-4) vs. Kyle Gibson (3-3) Sunday at 1:10 p.m.
At a glance: The White Sox should have some extra motivation this weekend after losing four straight at Minnesota earlier this season while being outscored 31-8. The Twins are one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Widely predicted to be one of the worst teams in the majors, they have won four of five and are 23-17 overall. Heading into Thursday's play, Minnesota ranked fourth in the American League with 183 runs scored. The Sox were last with 138. Twins closer Glen Perkins leads the majors with 15 saves. Samardzija is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 3 home starts this year.
Next: Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Monday-Wednesday
- Scot Gregor