John Danks pitched like he did at the end of last season, and that was good enough to beat the struggling Chicago Cubs.
The left-hander didn't allow a run through seven strong innings on Wednesday, Alexei Ramirez homered in the first and the White Sox parlayed some NL-style small ball into some late runs to beat the Cubs 4-1 at Wrigley Field.
"You know the Cubs are going to swing the bats, and that helps you calm down to throw strikes and let them put the ball in play. Fortunately, they were hitting them to our guys," Danks said.
"It is fun to come here in this atmosphere."
Danks won a one-game playoff against the Twins with eight shutout innings to send the White Sox into the playoffs last season and also captured an ALDS victory against Tampa Bay.
He'd had a couple of rough outings this season, but came up with one of his best performances of the year. He gave up one run and five hits with no walks and nine strikeouts in seven-plus innings.
Danks worked out of some early jams in a meeting of crosstown rivals who've struggled offensively this season.
"I just knew I had to make tough pitches. I wanted to make them earn it. Fortunately, we were able to get out of it," Danks said.
He left after Aaron Miles doubled to lead off the eighth.
White Sox center fielder Brian Anderson then leaped in front of the ivy-covered wall to catch pinch-hitter Jake Fox's long drive. Miles took third on the play and scored on Alfonso Soriano's grounder off reliever Scott Linebrink as the Cubs averted a shutout.
The Cubs have lost five of six.
And over the last 26 games, they have scored one run or fewer 10 times, going 9-17 in that span.
"It's getting to the point where I'm going to have to start making some tough decisions and get different people in the lineup," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.
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