White Sox Video

Danks's strong outing

Danks' deft double play

Angels Video

Kazmir's strong start

Kazmir strikes out six

When the two teams meet Saturday in Anaheim, Danks will take on Angels left-hander Scott Kazmir, and the Chicago pitcher will be in search of his 14th victory of the year, which would be a career high.

Danks is going to have to improve on recent form for that to happen.

He's 0-2 with a 6.05 ERA in his last three starts and 1-3 with a 5.98 ERA in his last seven. In his last outing, Danks gave up seven runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings against the Tigers. He didn't get a decision and the White Sox dropped a tough decision in extra innings to effectively knock them out of contention in the American League Central.

"Our group of guys is tough-minded, for sure. It's fun to watch," Danks said after that game. "We are going to battle until we can't win anymore."

Danks has some good numbers on his side for Saturday's game. He's 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA in eight career starts against the Angels and 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in three starts at Angel Stadium. He beat the Angels on July 8 in Chicago, allowing two hits in a complete-game shutout.

For the Angels, who were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Friday, the presence of rookies Mark Trumbo, Hank Conger, Peter Bourjos and Andrew Romine on the roster and on the field shows that the team is taking the opportunity to assess who might be contributors in 2011 and beyond.

Saturday's lineup will feature Mike Napoli, who has hit lefties well.

White Sox: Konerko connects again
First baseman Paul Konerko was hitless in his previous 18 at-bats until going 2-for-4 on Friday and connecting for his team-leading 38th home run of the season. He's now hitting .368 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in his last 30 games. He also needs one double to tie Nellie Fox for third in club history with 335. ... Designated hitter Manny Ramirez is hitting .241 (14-for-58) with one home run and one RBI in 20 games with the White Sox. He has reached base safely in 18 of the 20 games with Chicago, but 13 of his 14 hits have been singles.

Angels: Kazmir showing improvement
Kazmir is just 2-5 since coming back from the disabled list on Aug. 7, but he has improved with a 3.83 ERA in that span. He needs nine strikeouts to reach 1,000 for his career. He hasn't had much luck against the White Sox, however. Kazmir let up seven earned runs in 6 1/3 innings to Chicago in his other start against them this season and allowed 13 earned runs in 16 innings against them last season. ... The Angels stole four bases on Friday to reach 100 steals in each of the last 10 seasons, making them the only team in baseball that has accomplished that feat.

Worth noting
Juan Pierre is attempting to become the first White Sox player since Luis Aparicio (1961) to lead the Major Leagues in stolen bases. Pierre leads the Majors with 60 steals in 2010, eight more than Houston's Michael Bourn (52). ... Angels starting pitchers have held the opposition to two earned runs or fewer in 19 of their last 25 games and three runs or fewer in 23 of those games. Starters have compiled a 2.27 ERA since Aug. 29, the best ERA in the Majors in the 22-game stretch.