When it comes to quality starts, the White Sox have set the standard in the American League this season with 76.
But when it comes to converting those quality starts into victories … well, their 60-67 record speaks volumes.
John Danks provided a serviceable outing Friday night against the Mariners, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings. Two of those hits were the home runs of Kyle Seager and Franklin Gutierrez in the sixth inning that doomed the Sox to a 2-0 loss before a crowd of 27,870 at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Sox’s best chance to score came in the seventh when they loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. But pinch-hitter J.B. Shuck grounded into a third-to catcher-to first double play to end the threat.
“Yeah, there’s not much you can do about that,” Danks said. “J.B. put a good swing on it, did exactly what he’s supposed to do and it happened to be a perfect one-hop ball to Seager. It was hit hard but that’s just baseball. That’s the way it goes. It sucks that they only scored a couple, but it is what it is.”
Danks blamed himself as much as the lack of run support.
“It’s a team game, you know,” Danks said. “Everybody has to do their jobs. There were plenty of times when I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain.
“That’s why we haven’t been winning. If we had been playing more consistently, we would be in a lot better position than we are now.”
Danks’ uneven performances this season are reflected in his 6-12 record and 4.82 ERA.
“Like everybody else, he has had some (outings) that were not up to his standards,” manager Robin Ventura said. “And he has had some that were very good … some important ones for us with what we had in the bullpen.
“He’s like anybody else. He has had some that he would like to forget and he has had some that he’s been pretty good.”
Catcher Tyler Flowers has seen the good and bad Danks has displayed this season.
“The big thing for him is being down in the zone with his fastball and especially his changeup,” Flowers said. “You can get away with some elevated fastballs if you can keep your changeup down when it appears coming out of the hand to be the same pitch.
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“But I think his best outings come when he has a decent feel for his curveball. And moreso recently, his cutter or slider … he has really been able to command that pretty well. That has made his fastball a little more explosive and his changeup a little more effective.”
Danks was able to wiggle out of jams in the first two innings Friday night, keeping the Mariners off the board despite giving up three hits.
Flowers said he tries to remind Danks about adhering to his proper techniques at times.
“He has a tendency to kind of fly open, peel off and that causes the pitches to not have the action you need to, it also causes pitches to be up in the zone,” he said.
Danks threw 95 pitches before relievers Matt Albers and Dan Jennings blanked the Mariners the rest of the way.
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