Danks is on a roll

Just over 3 hours until first pitch of game two today, so I'll be brief.

I get on Ozzie Guillen quite a bit when he makes dumb decisions, but in the first game today he made some great moves.

• Pulling Danks with a low pitch count, giving the team flexibility for this weekend when he's due to pitch on short rest
  
• Letting Danks go back out for the 7th with the purpose of pitching to only Johnny Damon, regarless of the result (a 3-pitch strikeout)
  
• Leaving Bobby Jenks in the pen so that he's available for the night-cap
  
• Letting Aardsma and Thorton work more than an inning, facing batters from both sides of the plate
  

Even though the lineup will be handicapped tonight with Molina hitting 9th, Guillen did his best to give the Sox the best chance to win with a full arsenal of bullpen arms available in the nightcap, while simultaneously allowing himself some wiggle room this weekend thanks to the low pitch count of Danks. None of the local dailies will mention it, but that's how you help manage your team to victories.

As for the kid, Danks: Yes, JRE, he was impressive, particularly in the first three innings when he seemed to have a little extra zip on his fastball. After that, however, the Yanks weren't fooled much by the straight pitch, hitting a number of balls hard for outs. Danks had a bit of trouble getting his fastball over later in the game, but his curveball -- probably the best curve we've seen from him this year -- continued to bail him out.

It says a lot about his future as a big league pitcher that he was able to cruise -- though the Yankees do struggle against LHP, not nearly as much as the ChiSox -- without great control of his fastball and a changeup that was non-existent. Sitting here 10 minutes after the conclusion of the game, I can't think of a single time I saw Danks throw a changeup, which, at times, can be his best pitch.

The kid's got a bright future.