Birthday boy delivers for Sox
Celebrating his 23rd birthday on Tuesday, White Sox starting pitcher John Danks gave himself the perfect gift.
Actually, the left-hander got plenty of help from his defense, and Carlos Quentin's 3-run homer was the icing on the cake.
"It's been a while,'' Danks said after the Sox combined near perfect weather with a similar all-around effort while beating the Athletics 4-1 at U.S. Cellular Field.
The win was Danks' first since July 16 of last season, and followed 11 starts with nothing but losses and no decisions.
"Guys were making plays left and right,'' Danks said after pitching 7¿ scoreless innings. "I didn't feel like I had the best stuff I've ever had, but these guys battled for me and did a great job.''
Now 3 starts into his second full season in the major leagues, it sure looks like Danks' arrow is pointing up.
"I was talking with (pitching coach Don) Cooper,'' said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "It would be nice if we get more consistency from him. When he's good, he's real good. When he's bad, he's real bad. I think that's a growing-up thing. That's experience. He threw the ball around the plate and if he does, he's going to be effective.''
Danks was brilliant in his first start of the season, pitching 6¿ innings at Cleveland and allowing 1 run on 2 hits. In his second start, the Texan lasted just 2½ innings against Minnesota, giving up 7 runs on 7 hits.
As he gains more experience, Danks is confident he'll have more outings like his first and third ones.
"I feel good,'' Danks said. "I feel like a different pitcher this year. I expect good things the rest of the way out. Nothing's really new anymore. Last year, if I felt like I did today, I probably wouldn't have made it out of the third or fourth inning. I would have tried to overthrow.
"I'm taking those steps forward and growing. You have to go out there and battle every game. You're not going to have good games every time out; you just have to go out and battle. I think a big part of that is damage control. Instead of giving up 3-4 runs an inning, give up 1. It helps talking to guys like (Mark) Buehrle and (Javier) Vazquez, guys that have been there before.''
Like Danks, Buehrle is a left-hander. But the Sox' veteran ace goes right after hitters and that's something Danks tried emulating against Oakland.
"That's something we worked on,'' catcher Toby Hall said. "He got on the mound and got after it. It didn't matter what the count was, he was getting ahead of those guys, especially pounding them in and throwing all his off-speed pitches. We barely used his curveball, maybe twice. That's how good his other stuff was.''
One good swing from Quentin gave Danks and the White Sox all of the offense they'd need.
After A's starter Dana Eveland opened the fourth inning by hitting Paul Konerko with a pitch and walking Joe Crede, Quentin ripped a 1-0 fastball over the left-field fence to put the Sox in front 3-0.
"They pitched us tough these two games and mixed their pitches well,'' Quentin said. "I was looking to try to go the other way, but he gave me something over the plate. I put a good swing on it and got a good result.''
White Sox 4, A's 1
On the mound: Starter John Danks pitched 7.2 scoreless innings while picking up his first win since July 16 of last season. Scott Linebrink allowed 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk while recording just one out. Bobby Jenks earned his fifth save in as many tries.
In the field: Center fielder Alexei Ramirez made a strong throw to second base in the second inning to erase Emil Brown, who was trying to stretch a single into a double. Third baseman Joe Crede and shortstop Orlando Cabrera made back-to-back highlight plays in the sixth inning.
-- Scot Gregor