It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy, but it was a victory and the White Sox will take it.
And John Danks not only will take it, he will cherish it even if it took a game-saving catch from Brent Lillibridge and a shaky first save from Jesse Crain before it ended.
“This is awesome,” Danks said after his second straight victory, a 3-2 triumph over the A’s. “Who thought I would be celebrating being 2-8?”
And who would have thought a month ago the Sox would be within 4 1/2 games of the American League Central-leading Indians and Tigers?
“I’ve been saying all along, this is a good team, not only on paper but pretty good on the field, too,” Danks said. “Before it’s done we’ll be in the middle of it.”
And right in the middle of another victory was Lillibridge, this time with an eighth-inning over-the-wall catch of Coco Crisp’s probable two-run game-changing home run that was Danks’ last out.
“This kid, no doubt he’s the best outfielder we have,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.
Danks won’t argue.
“Paulie (Konerko) and (Carlos) Quentin are having great years, but you have to think of him as the MVP,” he said. “We have to find a spot for him.”
Lillibridge went the humble route.
“I don’t want to overshadow what John did,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to (affect) the game.”
Until the exciting last two innings, it was one of those old-time “winning ugly” games, with the Sox stranding 12 runners and hitting into two double plays in the first seven innings, as an announced crowd of 24,391 at U.S. Cellular Field watched in a cold misty fog.
A’s starter Gio Gonzalez, the former Sox minor leaguer, was close to being terrible — and still left with just a 3-2 deficit in the sixth inning.
In 5 1/3 innings, Gonzalez allowed five hits and seven walks, hit a batter, threw two wild pitches and was charged with a balk. But the Sox left 10 runners stranded.
They scored in the second on Alexei Ramirez’s single, Quentin’s walk, a double steal and wild pitch.
After Ramon Castro’s homer in the fourth, the Sox scored an unearned run in the sixth without benefit of a hit. Lillibridge walked, stole second, went to third on an error and scored when reliever Brad Zieglermuffed Quentin’s probable double play grounder.
For Crain, who walked the first batter in the ninth inning, it was his first save since July 16 for the Twins — against the Sox. But he was pitching only because Sergio Santos was gassed from blowing a game the night before.
“If Crain is going to be our closer, that’s not in our plans,” Guillen said. “Now we know he can do it (if needed).”
Danks had lost his first eight decisions, but Guillen said he never doubted the left-hander.
“This kid is a warrior. I love to see him pitch, I do,” Guillen said. “I think everybody on this ballclub feels the same way.
“Believe me, a lot of people say ‘(The losing) doesn’t bother him.’ Yes, of course it bothers him. But he doesn’t show it to the people. He doesn’t change. He’s the same kid when he’s good and he’s the same kid when he’s bad.”
Twitter @davandyck
Save up to 40% on Chicago White Sox gifts
