Danks to take mound tonight

John Danks, come on down.

Mark Buehrle got the job done on short rest in a must-win game against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, and Gavin Floyd followed suit in Monday's makeup game against Detroit.

Tonight at U.S. Cellular Field - with a trip to the playoffs hanging in the balance - Danks will be called on to keep the White Sox' season going.

"The ball will be in my court to get us there," Danks said.

Danks is hoping the ball takes a much better bounce tonight when the Sox host the Twins to determine the AL Central champion.

In his previous start, Danks faced Cleveland on Friday and lasted just 4 innings, allowing 7 runs on 7 hits.

"That's a motivation," Danks said. "Obviously, a game of this magnitude, I don't need the motivation, but there is some there to prove myself at this level, to prove that I'm durable, dependable. I'm going to go at it like I don't only need to win for the team, but I have something to prove for myself."

While Buehrle, Floyd and Javier Vazquez have been pitching on three days' rest down the stretch, the White Sox have been careful with the 23-year-old Danks.

In the first half of the season, Danks was 7-4 with a 2.67 ERA. In the second half, the left-hander is 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA.

Tonight, Danks takes the mound on three days' rest for the first time he can remember.

"If it was in high school, it was a relief appearance," Danks said.

Danks isn't expecting fatigue to be a factor.

"I feel like I still have all my strength," Danks said. "I feel good. I'm looking forward to it."

If anything, Danks said he might have felt too good in his last start.

"I think I tried to do too much," Danks said. "Going on three days' rest might actually help a little bit because I won't feel quite as strong. I'm not going to feel like I can throw it 100 mph like I did the last game. I really need to just stay within myself and let the defense work for me."

Wear it: The White Sox are expecting U.S. Cellular Field to be sold out for tonight's tiebreaker game against the Twins.

The Sox are asking fans to wear all black as a show of support. The White Sox will also distribute 40,000 black "Sox Pride" towels.

Change in the air: One day after firing pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones, the disappointing Tigers announced they won't pick up the 2009 option on shortstop Edgar Renteria.