video thumbnail

CWS@CLE: Danks pitches seven-plus solid innings

The Tigers probably aren't the team that White Sox starter John Danks would like to be welcoming to U.S. Cellular Field on Monday for the first of a brief two-game set.

Danks faced the Tigers more than any other team last year and didn't fare all too well in those four outings. He went just 1-3 and posted a 7.89 ERA, Danks' highest against any team that he faced more than once.

Not only would Danks like to improve on that number against the Tigers, but he'd like to continue trimming his 2012 ERA. Even with his most productive start of the season his last time out -- allowing just two runs over seven innings Tuesday against the Indians -- Danks' season ERA still sits at 5.89.

"What a relief, almost," Danks said after Tuesday's game, even though he settled for a no-decision. "It's definitely good to have a respectable outing. I feel like I've obviously let a lot of people down the last month or so and I've just been frustrated."

Tigers starter Drew Smyly, meanwhile, doesn't even know what a bad start in the Major Leagues feels like yet.

The 22-year-old southpaw, who made his Major League debut on April 12, has allowed six earned runs combined in his six starts and carries a 1.59 ERA into the series opener on Chicago's South Side. In a May 4 start against the White Sox, Smyly allowed two earned runs over seven innings, marking the only outing in which he's allowed more than one run.

Unfortunately for Smyly, all of his two-runs-or-less outings -- aside from one -- have gone for naught, as he's settled for five no-decisions and has just one victory to his name.

"That's out of my control," Smyly said. "All I can hope to do is just go out and be in position to get a win. If you start trying to mess around with [personal victories], then it's not going to be good for you."

Tigers: Raburn returns to lineup
Ryan Raburn's absence from the Tigers' lineup because of a stiff back lasted just one day, as he was back in manager Jim Leyland's lineup for Sunday afternoon's 3-1 victory over the A's.

Raburn tweaked his back while diving for a ball in left field on Thursday night, but remained in the lineup and also played on Friday before sitting out Saturday. Along with his back pain, Raburn has also been struggling with the bat, as his 1-for-3 effort Sunday raised his season average to just .135.

White Sox: Dunn focusing on the home run
While Adam Dunn's strikeout numbers haven't exactly improved this season, he has seemingly re-discovered his power stroke in his second season with the White Sox.

Dunn enters Monday having already matched his season total from last year with 11 home runs. Two of those came against the Tigers when the clubs met from May 4-6, including a two-run, game-winning homer in the top of the ninth on May 5.

"If I'm swinging at a lot of stuff, I'll go up and say, 'I'm going to try to hit a home run, and that zones you up," Dunn said. "You won't swing at a pitch that you can't square up to hit a home run. It's not necessarily that I'm going to hit a home run, but you are kind of thinking, 'Let's get a pitch to try to hit a home run here.'

"You don't hit a lot of home runs doing that, but you don't swing at a lot of bad pitches. It's still hard to go up and hit a home run when you are trying."

Worth noting
• The White Sox are 1-14 when scoring three runs or fewer this season.

• Current Tigers players are hitting a combined .302 (61-for-202) against Danks with 15 doubles and seven home runs.

MLB.com Comments