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Danks Got White Sox This Far

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By TONY FABRIZIO

afabrizio@tampatrib.com

Published: October 5, 2008

CHICAGO - If the Rays are going to sweep the White Sox today at U.S. Cellular Field, they're going to have to go through the pitcher who got that team into the postseason.

John Danks, a lanky 23-year-old lefty from Round Rock, Texas, pitched an eight-inning two-hitter last Tuesday in Chicago's 1-0 tiebreaker playoff win against Minnesota.
Jim Thome provided the only run in that game with a seventh-inning home run. He is 1-for-9 (.111) in this series, so the Rays already have a handle on one of the Sox's stars so far.

Danks found something extra for the playoff, despite pitching on three days' rest for the first time and entering with a 7.91 ERA against the Twins this year. His manager believes Danks will respond again in an elimination game.

"I don't know if he will pitch the same way he did against Minnesota, but mentally this kid is pretty tough," Ozzie Guillen said. "I think he's got a little bit of Mark Buehrle, mentally. He's got fire. He wants to do good."

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski says the White Sox's challenge isn't to get Danks amped up for an important game, but rather to help him treat it like any other game.

"Everyone knows what's at stake, everyone knows what's going on, so it's not like he's immune to the situation," Pierzynski said. "We'll try to get him relaxed and try to make him have fun and try to make it as normal as possible."

Danks, 12-9 during the regular season, got the nod for Game 3 over 17-8 Gavin Floyd because the Rays were 25-24 versus left-handed starters, compared with 72-41 against righties.

But the Rays fared well enough against lefty Buehrle on Friday night in St. Petersburg, getting to him late in a 6-2 Game 2 victory.

Floyd would start Game 4 if the White Sox get one back.

"I like pitching in these kind of games," Danks said. "Obviously, we don't want to be in this situation. ... I think I did pretty well last time, and hopefully I can continue to pitch that way."

The Rays are hitting .338 in the series. Danks held them to a .219 average in three meetings this year (1.86 ERA), two of which he won. Even Evan Longoria, who had two home runs and an RBI single in Game 1, is only 1-for-6 against Danks.

Danks knows the dynamics will be different tonight.

"I think the Rays are very similar to Minnesota in that they have guys that do all the small things," he said. "They'll bunt, they'll hit-and-run, they'll steal. Middle of the lineup, you have to be careful. Guys can hit the ball out of the ballpark."

Danks actually has been better on the road than at home this year (7-3, 2.92 ERA versus 5-6, 3.66), but opponents are hitting only .238 against him at home.

Tonight, he will have a rabid, dressed-in-black, towel-waving fan base behind him.

"It's funny because every time we played Minnesota or Tampa Bay, all you heard about was our record on turf 4-18 including the postseason," White Sox right fielder Nick Swisher said. "Now let's start talking about our record at home 54-28. It's our time. We took our whippings down there in front of their home crowd, and now it's time to dish out a little bit of our own."

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