Danks understands why he got yanked

John Danks threw 100 or more pitches in 3 of his 15 starts this season before pitching against the Cubs for the first time Friday.

After working out of a first-inning jam, the White Sox' 23-year-old lefty locked himself in and breezed through the next five innings, retiring 11 straight at one point.

So when Sox manager Ozzie Guillen pulled him after 6 innings and a reasonable pitch count of 85, Danks was upset, right?

"I don't think I've come out of a game yet in my career where I didn't want to go back out there,'' Danks said. "I totally understand why.''

The White Sox held a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning, but Guillen wanted more runs. So with Danks scheduled to lead off the seventh, Guillen called on Juan Uribe, and he delivered a pinch-hit single.

"The National League, we have to try to get some runs up there,'' Danks said. "Obviously, Juan Uribe's a better fit to hit than I am. It was warm. I felt like I was pretty efficient, but at the same time I totally understood. To a certain degree, I agreed with Ozzie's move.''

Before making his North Side debut, Danks had some harsh things to say about Wrigley Field. He didn't completely back off after his start.

"You know, obviously there's something that does attract people here,'' Danks said. "I just haven't seen it yet. This is an old ballpark and there's really not a whole lot to expect from old ballparks.''

Did he expect to hear it from the crowd?

"I did. I did,'' Danks said. "It was fun, a lot of fun, having our fans and their fans here. To hear that you're the worst pitcher in the big leagues and to hear people love you at the same time, I had a good time.''

And Danks pitched a good game.

"He was pretty impressive,'' said Cubs starter Ted Lilly. "I like the way he pitches. I think he's going to be pretty good for a while.''

Hit the brakes: With the game tied at 3-3, Brian Anderson led off the ninth inning with a deep drive over the head of Cubs center fielder Kosuke Fukudome.

It appeared Anderson had an easy triple, but he pulled up at second base.

"I thought about it until I reached second base,'' Anderson said of going to third. "I thought it would be very unwise to make the first out over there. I've done it before this year and I ended up scoring.''

Anderson didn't score from second base this time.

Pinch hitter Jim Thome popped out on the first pitch from Cubs closer Kerry Wood, Orlando Cabrera flied out and A.J. Pierzynski was called out on strikes by third-base umpire Mike Everett, even though he appeared to check his swing.

Ozzie live: It wouldn't be a Sox-Cubs series on the North Side without manager Ozzie Guillen making a disparaging remark about Wrigley Field.

As usual, Guillen came through before Friday's game.

"You are going to take batting practice (in the outfield cage) and the rats look bigger than a pig out there,'' Guillen said. "You want to take a look. I think the rats out there are lifting weights. It's a museum. (People) like to come to Wrigley Field. I don't say people don't like to come here. I say Ozzie don't like to come here.''