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 Chicago just missed its third shutout in four games, the White Sox kept the team that entered the game with the American League's best record in check. The Athletics won six of their first seven on this eight-game road trip, but they couldn't touch Danks after beating Mark Buehrle 2-1 on Monday.
Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer in the fourth, and that was enough to make the left-hander a winner for the first time since he beat Cleveland on July 16.
Danks (1-1) left to a standing ovation and tipped his cap after Travis Buck singled with two outs in the eighth. He held the Athletics to five singles while striking out four and walking two, lowering his ERA from 8.00 to 4.32 after he was knocked out in the third inning of his previous start against Minnesota.
Bobby Jenks came on with runners at first and third in the ninth after Scott Linebrink walked Daric Barton and allowed a single to Mike Sweeney. Jenks threw two pitches, resulting in a sacrifice fly for Emil Brown and double-play grounder by Bobby Crosby, for his fifth save in five opportunities.
Oakland's Dana Eveland (1-1) had his worst outing of the year, allowing four runs
-- three earned -- in 4 2-3 innings. He walked three, struck out two and hit two batters with pitches after allowing a total of one run in his first two starts against Cleveland and Toronto.
Eveland started having control problems when he plunked Nick Swisher in the right shin with two outs in the third, threw a wild pitch and walked Orlando Cabrera before getting out of trouble. Eveland then hit Konerko leading off the fourth and walked Joe Crede before Quentin, in a 2-for-17 skid, turned on a belt-high pitch. He flipped his bat and watched as the ball sailed deep into the left-field seats, his second homer giving the White Sox a 3-0 lead.
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Crede chased Eveland in the fifth with a single that drove in Jermaine Dye, who had singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by third baseman Donnie Murphy.
The White Sox were without Jim Thome, who was fined and suspended for one game for vehemently arguing a called third strike during a game against Detroit last week. He decided to serve his punishment rather than appeal in part because he was not scheduled to play, anyway.
Notes: The Athletics wore No. 42 to commemorate the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, as did Swisher, Dye, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, first base coach Harold Baines and third base coach Jeff Cox. Thome was scheduled to wear No. 42. ... Chicago's Alexei Ramirez, starting in center, made a perfect throw to cut down Brown going for a double leading off the second. Ramirez raced into right-center, wheeled and hit second on a fly to get the runner, who appeared to slide under the tag. ... Crede dove to his right to stop a hard smash by Mark Ellis in the sixth.
[Associated Press; By ANDREW SELIGMAN]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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