BALTIMORE — In a matchup of two very good starting pitchers, John Danks outperformed Jeremy Guthrie in almost every way.
“Danks had three things we were a little short on: He had command of his pitches, movement and he changed speeds,” Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said Wednesday night after the Chicago White Sox pinned an 8-2 loss on Guthrie and the Orioles.
Danks (2-0) allowed one run, four hits and no walks in a season-high seven innings. The left-hander was so good, Jim Thome’s 545th career home run was merely a footnote in the lopsided victory.
In three starts this season, Danks has given up only two runs — both on solo homers. He retired 19 of the final 21 batters, the exceptions a fifth-inning home run by Luke Scott and a single in the seventh by Ty Wigginton.
“It’s a good game, obviously, on paper, but I didn’t have a lot of fun,” Danks said. “After the third, I had 60 pitches and I was hoping just to get through five, maybe to the sixth. The goal is to get deeper in the game and get more efficient. As the game went on, that’s what I did.”
Guthrie (2-1) gave up five runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. Baltimore’s opening day starter yielded at least one hit in every inning but the sixth, the only time he retired the side in order.
“The difference between Jeremy and Danks tonight was location of the pitches,” Trembley said. “Right from the very first inning, the White Sox made Jeremy work to get outs.”
Chicago scored in each of the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead, then coasted to the finish.
“Not my best stuff,” Guthrie acknowledged. “It’s a real good ballclub and they put some early runs up there and got some great pitching from John.”
Thome’s opposite-field solo shot to left put the White Sox up 4-0 in the third. It was Thome’s fourth homer of the season, and it put the 38-year-old slugger within three of 13th-place Mike Schmidt on the career list.
Josh Fields went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs for Chicago, and Chris Getz had three hits, two RBIs and scored three runs.
“We don’t have to rely on just the big boys. Everyone contributed,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “Getz had a big game and I am excited about Fields.”
Chicago got a first-inning run when Getz led off with a single and scored on a single by Carlos Quentin.
The White Sox made it 3-0 in the second. Guthrie walked .159 hitter Alexei Ramirez, who stole second and scored on a two-out single by Getz. An ill-advised throw home by center fielder Adam Jones allowed Getz to take second, and Fields followed with a ground-rule double.
“My job is to go out there and put up zeros on the board,” Danks said, “but the runs did help for sure.”
Danks retired 11 straight batters before Scott connected to get Baltimore to 4-1.
After Getz led off the seventh with a single, Fields greeted Dennis Sarfate with a two-run homer. In the eighth, Brian Anderson doubled in a run and Getz followed with a sacrifice fly.
Wigginton hit a run-scoring grounder in the ninth against Matt Thornton.<
Notes: The crowd of 10,868 on a chilly night barely surpassed the Camden Yards record low of 10,507, last April against Tampa Bay. … Danks improved to 9-3 lifetime on the road, and recorded his eighth career pickoff, against Brian Roberts in the first inning. … Orioles RHP Alfredo Simon will undergo season-ending elbow ligament replacement surgery soon, club president Andy MacPhail said. … Baltimore’s Nick Markakis got two hits and is batting .417 during a nine-game hitting streak.
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