Thome, Danks lead White Sox over Orioles 8-2

[April 23, 2009]  BALTIMORE (AP) -- Jim Thome hit his 545th career homer to back a superb pitching performance by John Danks, and the Chicago White Sox beat Jeremy Guthrie and the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 Wednesday night.

Danks (2-0) allowed one run, four hits and no walks in seven innings. The left-hander has given up only two runs in 19 innings this season, both on solo homers.

Danks permitted two hits in the first inning, but picked off Brian Roberts after the first one. He retired 19 of the final 21 batters, the exceptions a fifth-inning homer by Luke Scott and a single in the seventh by Ty Wigginton.

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.

Guthrie (2-1) gave up five runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander yielded at least one hit in every inning but the sixth, the only time he retired the side in order.

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.

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. ... 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.

[Associated Press; By DAVID GINSBURG]

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