Danks better, but Chicago White Sox fall to Angels
Say this for John Danks, he lived to fight another day.
The maligned No. 5 starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox was hit hard in his first two starts of the season, giving up 12 runs (10 earned) on 14 hits and 4 walks over 11⅓ innings.
Still, manager Robin Ventura was in Danks' corner before he took the mound against the Los Angeles Angels Thursday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.
"He's pitched better than the numbers have indicated," Ventura said before the White Sox lost to Los Angeles 3-2. "I don't look at it as he's pitching for his life."
Danks went out and walked two Angels in the first inning before working out of trouble. He allowed a leadoff single in the second followed by another walk, but the veteran left-hander cleaned up that mess as well.
Outside of serving up a 2-run homer to Mike Trout in the fifth inning, Danks (0-3) kept he Sox in the game.
"He was bobbing and weaving all day," Ventura said. "I don't know if his control was all that great, but he was able to get a groundball when he needed it. The home run hurt him, but other than that he was able to find his way out of it, a little Harry Houdini, to get out of some jams."
Danks (0-3) pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks.
"Shoot, at this point, I'm not worried about how it looks," Danks said. "I'm pleased to keep us in the game. But I certainly need to be sharper than that, and we will. It's just a step in the right direction, I would say."
Danks was matched up against Jered Weaver, who was treated for a neck issue during spring training and now throws 86 mph fastballs and curveballs that hit 66 mph.
"Just play Wiffle ball like you are little," Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said of his approach. "Take it as a knuckleball pitcher and slow everything down. He got me a couple of times. I tried to slow my feet down and once you rush, he's going to get you."
Weaver limited the White Sox to 1 run, Melky Cabrera's first homer of the season, on 3 hits over 7 innings.
The Sox almost pulled it out in the ninth against Angels closer Huston Street. After Frazier homered with two outs, Cabrera and Brett Lawrie walked.
Austin Jackson flied deep to left field on Street's first pitch, but Craig Gentry made the catch at the wall to end it.
"It was close," Ventura said. "The wind is blowing in a little bit and in the summer, that probably goes. But I appreciate and like the effort in the ninth inning of being able to bring the winning run at the plate or put it on base and grind out a ninth inning. I like that about our team."
Jose Abreu struck out in the ninth inning before Frazier went deep. The White Sox's best hitter was 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts, and a 4-for-37 slump over his last 10 games has dropped Abreu's batting average to .190.
"He's chasing pitches, trying to do too much," Ventura said. "When you're hitting .190, you're a .190 hitter and there's a reason why you're doing it, probably because you're chasing pitches. Is he better than that? Do we expect more of him? Absolutely, and we have confidence he's going to do that."