White Sox' Danks two-hits the Angels

CHICAGO - John Danks didn't waste any time on a muggy day. The Chicago lefthander got the ball, took the signs from White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and then let it go.

And for six innings, the Los Angeles Angels couldn't hit what he delivered.

After losing a no-hit bid in the seventh, Danks maintained his composure and finished with his first career shutout on a two-hitter as the surging White Sox beat the Angels, 1-0, completing a four-game sweep and winning for the 22d time in 27 games.

"On a day like [Thursday], you don't want to be standing around out there, don't want your defense standing around out there," Danks said after game that lasted only 1 hour, 50 minutes on a muggy 79-degree day.

"I was just getting the ball and whatever he put down seemed to be the same pitch I wanted to throw. It just worked out that way."

Just a day after the White Sox learned they might be without ace Jake Peavy for the rest of the season, Danks worked quickly and was in control of his pitches from the outset. He did not give up a walk and had seven strikeouts, winning a duel with the Angels' Ervin Santana.

Chicago got a run off Santana (8-7) in the first as he hit leadoff batter Juan Pierre with a pitch, Alex Rios doubled to left and Paul Konerko delivered a sacrifice fly.

And then Danks made it stand up.

Los Angeles 000 000 000 – 0 2 0

Chicago 100 000 00x – 1 3 1

Los Angeles AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Chicago AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

E.Aybar ss 4   0   0   0   .279      Pierre lf 3   1   0   0   .260

Willits cf 4   0   1   0   .247      Vizquel 3b 2   0   0   0   .237

H.Kendrick 2b 4   0   1   0   .281      Rios cf 3   0   2   0   .306

Tor.Hunter dh 3   0   0   0   .301      Konerko dh 2   0   0   1   .296

Napoli 1b 3   0   0   0   .253      Kotsay 1b 3   0   0   0   .225

J.Rivera lf 3   0   0   0   .233      Pierzynski c 3   0   1   0   .238

Frandsen 3b 3   0   0   0   .306      An.Jones rf 2   0   0   0   .193

J.Mathis c 3   0   0   0   .247      Al.Ramirez ss 3   0   0   0   .277

Aldridge rf 3   0   0   0   .000      Beckham 2b 3   0   0   0   .205

Totals 30   0   2   0         Totals 24   1   3   1      

E: Vizquel (2). LOB: Los Angeles 3, Chicago 4. 2B: Rios (19). RBIs: Konerko (61). CS: Vizquel (3). SF: Konerko. RLSP: Los Angeles 1 (J.Rivera); Chicago 2 (Kotsay, Konerko). GIDP: Konerko. DP: Los Angeles 1 (Frandsen, H.Kendrick, Napoli).

Chicago walks (3): Vizquel 2, An.Jones.

Los Angeles strikeouts (7): H.Kendrick 2, Napoli, Frandsen, J.Mathis, Aldridge 2.

Chicago strikeouts (4): Vizquel, Kotsay, An.Jones 2.

Los Angeles IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

E.Santana (L 8-7) 8   3   1   1   3   4   104   3.76

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Danks (W 8-7) 9   2   0   0   0   7   111   3.29

HBP: by E.Santana (Pierre). Umpires: Home, Bill Miller; first, Mike Reilly; second, Chad Fairchild; third, Eric Cooper.

T: 1:50. A: 27,734 (40,615).

Blue Jays 8, Twins 1

TORONTO - Jose Bautista hit one of Toronto's five homers and Brett Cecil snapped a four-start winless skid, leading Toronto past Minnesota.

Fred Lewis, Adam Lind, Jose Molina and Lyle Overbay also went deep for the Blue Jays, who hit 10 homers in the three game series and lead the majors with 130. Bautista leads the majors with 23 homers and eight Blue Jays have at least 10 home runs before the all-star break, a club first.

Minnesota 000 100 000 – 1 5 0

Toronto 140 000 21x – 8 10 0

Minnesota AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Toronto AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Repko cf 4   0   1   0   .333      F.Lewis lf 4   1   1   1   .280

O.Hudson 2b 4   0   0   0   .273      Ale.Gonzalez ss 4   0   1   3   .256

Mauer dh 4   0   0   0   .297      J.Bautista rf 4   1   1   1   .238

Cuddyer 1b 4   1   1   1   .260      Wise rf 0   0   0   0   .241

Delm.Young lf 3   0   1   0   .306      V.Wells cf 4   0   1   0   .272

Kubel rf 3   0   0   0   .258      Lind dh 4   1   1   1   .207

Valencia 3b 2   0   0   0   .315      A.Hill 2b 4   1   1   0   .190

Hardy ss 3   0   2   0   .230      Overbay 1b 3   1   1   1   .245

Butera c 3   0   0   0   .167      Encarnacion 3b 3   1   1   0   .216

Totals 30   1   5   1         J.Molina c 3   2   2   1   .295

Totals 33   8   10   8      

LOB: Minnesota 3, Toronto 1. 2B: Delm.Young (24), Hardy (7), Ale.Gonzalez (23). HR: Cuddyer (8), off Cecil; F.Lewis (5), off S.Baker; Lind (11), off S.Baker; Overbay (10), off Al.Burnett; J.Molina (1), off Al.Burnett; J.Bautista (23), off Mahay. RBIs: Cuddyer (37), F.Lewis (23), Ale.Gonzalez 3 (47), J.Bautista (55), Lind (38), Overbay (31), J.Molina (5). CS: V.Wells (2). RLSP: Minnesota 2 (Repko, Valencia); Toronto 1 (J.Bautista). RA: Butera. GIDP: O.Hudson, Butera. DP: Toronto 2 (Ale.Gonzalez, A.Hill, Overbay), (Ale.Gonzalez, A.Hill, Overbay).

Minnesota walks (1): Valencia.

Minnesota strikeouts (3): O.Hudson, Mauer, Kubel.

Toronto strikeouts (7): F.Lewis, V.Wells 2, Lind 3, Encarnacion.

Minnesota IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

S.Baker (L 7-8) 6   7   5   5   0   4   91   4.87

Al.Burnett 1   2   2   2   0   1   14   3.93

Mahay 1   1   1   1   0   2   17   3.96

Toronto IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Cecil (W 8-5) 7   4   1   1   1   2   89   3.97

Janssen 1   1   0   0   0   0   20   4.23

Purcey 1   0   0   0   0   1   17   2.63

Umpires: Home, Derryl Cousins; first, D.J. Reyburn; second, Marvin Hudson; third, Jim Wolf.

T: 2:15. A: 15,601 (49,539).

Rays 5, Indians 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Carl Crawford hit a pair of two-run homers, Wade Davis stopped his six-game winless streak and surging Tampa Bay beat Cleveland for its sixth straight win.

Tampa Bay went ahead, 2-1, on Crawford's two-run shot in the first inning. His second two-run drive and Carlos Pena's solo homer made it 5-2 in the third.

Davis (6-9) gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings. He was 0-5 in six starts since beating the Chicago White Sox on May 29.

Cleveland 110 000 000 – 2 7 0

Tampa Bay 203 000 00x – 5 9 0

Cleveland AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Tampa Bay AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Brantley cf 5   1   1   1   .148      Zobrist rf 3   2   2   0   .290

J.Nix 2b 5   0   0   0   .221      Crawford lf 4   2   2   4   .321

C.Santana c 3   0   1   0   .286      Longoria 3b 3   0   1   0   .297

Hafner dh 3   0   1   0   .246      C.Pena 1b 4   1   1   1   .201

Kearns rf 4   0   1   0   .266      S.Rodriguez 2b 4   0   0   0   .274

Jh.Peralta 3b 4   0   0   0   .245      Joyce dh 4   0   1   0   .182

Crowe lf 4   0   0   0   .245      B.Upton cf 3   0   1   0   .226

A.Marte 1b 3   1   1   1   .190      Jaso c 4   0   1   0   .274

Donald ss 3   0   2   0   .279      Bartlett ss 2   0   0   0   .224

Totals 34   2   7   2         Totals 31   5   9   5      

LOB: Cleveland 9, Tampa Bay 6. 2B: Zobrist (16), Joyce (2). HR: Brantley (1), off W.Davis; A.Marte (2), off W.Davis; Crawford 2 (10), off Westbrook 2; C.Pena (17), off Westbrook. RBIs: Brantley (5), A.Marte (9), Crawford 4 (48), C.Pena (52). SB: B.Upton (25). S: Zobrist. RLSP: Cleveland 5 (Jh.Peralta, J.Nix 3, Crowe); Tampa Bay 4 (Bartlett, C.Pena 2, Jaso). RA: Brantley 2, Kearns, Jh.Peralta. GIDP: Bartlett. DP: Cleveland 1 (J.Nix, Donald, A.Marte).

Cleveland walks (4): C.Santana, Hafner, A.Marte, Donald.

Tampa Bay walks (3): Longoria, B.Upton, Bartlett.

Cleveland strikeouts (6): Brantley, J.Nix 2, C.Santana, Hafner 2.

Tampa Bay strikeouts (8): Crawford, C.Pena, S.Rodriguez 3, Joyce, B.Upton 2.

Cleveland IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Westbrook (L 5-5) 6   8   5   5   0   7   113   4.75

R.Perez 1   1   0   0   2   1   23   4.30

K.Wood 1   0   0   0   1   0   18   5.95

Tampa Bay IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

W.Davis (W 6-9) 7   4   2   2   4   4   112   4.69

Cormier (H 3) 1/3   2   0   0   0   1   8   4.36

Wheeler (S 1-1) 12/3   1   0   0   0   1   18   2.93

IR-S: Wheeler 2-0. IBB: off R.Perez (Longoria). WP: R.Perez 2. Umpires: Home, Mike DiMuro; first, Jim Reynolds; second, Tim Welke; third, Scott Barry. T: 2:42. A: 16,892 (36,973).

Orioles 6, Rangers 4

ARLINGTON, Texas - Craig Tatum drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to force in the go-ahead run, Scott Moore and Felix Pie homered, and Baltimore rallied to beat Texas.

The Orioles loaded the bases in a three-run eighth against Frank Francisco (6-4). Darren Oliver relieved and hit Pie with a pitch to force in a run.

Baltimore 000 010 230 – 6 10 3

Texas 031 000 000 – 4 9 1

Baltimore AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Texas AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

C.Patterson dh 5   0   1   1   .278      Andrus ss 5   0   1   0   .289

M.Tejada 3b 5   0   1   0   .276      M.Young 3b 4   0   1   1   .306

Markakis rf 5   1   1   0   .306      Kinsler 2b 4   0   2   0   .310

Wigginton 1b 4   0   2   0   .253      Guerrero dh 4   0   0   0   .326

1-C.Izturis pr-ss 1   1   0   0   .244      Hamilton lf 4   2   3   1   .345

Ad.Jones cf 3   1   0   0   .272      B.Molina c 4   0   0   0   .176

Pie lf 3   1   1   2   .364      N.Cruz rf 3   1   1   1   .301

Tatum c 3   1   1   1   .235      Smoak 1b 4   0   1   0   .209

S.Moore 2b-1b 3   1   1   1   .250      Borbon cf 3   1   0   0   .282

Lugo ss-2b 4   0   2   1   .263      Totals 35   4   9   3      

Totals 36   6   10   6      

1-ran for Wigginton in the 8th. E: M.Tejada (13), Guthrie (2), Tatum (1), Andrus (11). LOB: Baltimore 7, Texas 11. 2B: M.Tejada (14), Markakis (26), Hamilton 2 (25). HR: S.Moore (3), off Tom.Hunter; Pie (2), off Tom.Hunter; Hamilton (22), off Guthrie. RBIs: C.Patterson (14), Pie 2 (4), Tatum (5), S.Moore (9), Lugo (12), M.Young (54), Hamilton (64), N.Cruz (41). SB: Markakis (3), N.Cruz (9). S: B.Molina. RLSP: Baltimore 4 (Wigginton, Pie, M.Tejada, C.Patterson); Texas 6 (Kinsler, M.Young, Smoak 3, Guerrero). RA: Andrus, B.Molina. GIDP: M.Tejada, B.Molina. DP: Baltimore 1 (Lugo, Tatum, Wigginton); Texas 1 (Andrus, Kinsler, Smoak).

Baltimore walks (2): Tatum, S.Moore.

Texas walks (6): M.Young, Kinsler, Guerrero, Hamilton, N.Cruz, Borbon. Baltimore strikeouts (9): C.Patterson 3, M.Tejada 2, Wigginton, Ad.Jones, Tatum, Lugo.

Texas strikeouts (4): Andrus, N.Cruz, Smoak, Borbon.

Baltimore IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Guthrie 42/3   7   4   4   5   1   88   4.77

Hendrickson 1   0   0   0   1   1   18   5.40

Da.Hernandez (W 4-7) 11/3   2   0   0   0   1   26   4.53

Berken (H 6) 1   0   0   0   0   1   15   2.06

Simon (S 11-13) 1   0   0   0   0   0   10   3.52

Texas IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Tom.Hunter 6   7   3   3   1   7   86   2.34

Ogando (H 2) 1   1   0   0   0   1   10   0.63

F.Francisco (L 6-4) 0   1   3   2   0   0   13   4.15

D.Oliver (BS 2-3) 1/3   0   0   0   1   0   14   1.40

O'Day 2/3   1   0   0   0   0   9   1.57

Strop 1   0   0   0   0   1   15   2.70

Tom.Hunter pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.F.Francisco pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. IR-S: Hendrickson 3-0, Da.Hernandez 1-0, Ogando 2-1, D.Oliver 3-2, O'Day 3-1. HBP: by D.Oliver (Pie), by F.Francisco (Ad.Jones). Umpires: Home, Dale Scott; first, Jerry Meals; second, Mark Wegner; third, Dan Iassogna.

T: 3:14. A: 16,240 (49,170).