Toothless Sox fall to Rockies; home win streak ends at 9
Careful not to pitch his kid lefty too much in a 2007 season going nowhere, Ozzie Guillen has no such concern this year with John Danks.
"We saw what he's got (last season)," the White Sox manager said. "This year I'm gonna squeeze the juice while I can."
Guillen squeezed 6 quality innings out of Danks on Saturday night, but the White Sox offense produced just 3 singles against four Colorado pitchers and lost 2-0 in front of 35,663 at U.S. Cellular Field.
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Danks earned a no-decision, as the Rockies scored an unearned run off Octavio Dotel in the seventh and added another unearned run off Nick Masset in the ninth. Journeyman left-hander Jorge De La Rosa pitched the first five innings for Colorado, striking a career-high eight. Meanwhile, Rockies leadoff hitter Willy Taveras stole a career-high 5 bases.
Danks, whose 3.13 ERA coming into the game ranked sixth in the American League, struck out six and walked one in lowering his ERA to 2.90. Guillen lifted the 22-year-old after 105 pitches.
"My arm felt great," Danks said. "I think it's the hardest I've thrown all year. I finally got my changeup back. It's been three or four starts since I've had a consistent changeup. The cutter and curveball were kind of hit or miss."
Danks wriggled out of trouble most of the night. Colorado stranded six runners, including four at third base, against him. Danks retired the side in order only once.
"Danks battled like a champ," Guillen said. "He doesn't have his best stuff and he still goes out there and performs.
"Sometimes, when you're a kid and you don't have that many years in the big leagues and all that much experience, that's good to solve your own problems."
Colorado acquired De La Rosa, a former Brewer, from Kansas City's Class AAA team in late April. Making just his sixth start and first since May 26, he allowed only 1 hit -- a third-inning single to Brian Anderson.
"He was pretty good," said A.J. Pierzynski, who led the Sox with 2 hits. "I mean, 94 (mph) from the left side. Every time he seemed to get behind he threw a splitty or slider for a strike. You're not going to win a lot of games when you get 3 singles."
Relievers Jason Grilli, Taylor Buchholz and Brian Fuentes (10th save) shut down the Sox over the final four innings to snap their nine-game home winning streak.
"De La Rosa threw a lot of breaking balls behind in the count and we kept chasing them," Guillen said. "He threw well, Fuentes threw good, and Grilli threw great. Sometimes you got to tip your hat to the opposition"
Rockies 2, White Sox 0
At the plate: A.J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4, with a sixth-inning single extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Carlos Quentin was 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts and is 8 for his last 50. Brian Anderson was 1-for-3 with a stolen base.
On the mound: John Danks pitched 6 shutout innings but got a no-decision. He allowed 5 hits and 1 walk, striking out six. Relievers Octavio Dotel, Boone Logan and Nick Masset gave up a combined 2 runs (both unearned) and 4 hits.