Given a quick 1-0 lead on a Carlos Quentin solo shot, John Danks went to work and basically sabotaged his entire hard-luck case.
He couldn't get his cutter in on right-handed hitters, and lefties killed him, too. The game opened with three straight singles, and after Danks struck out Juan Rivera with a nice changeup to suggest a turnaround was in the works, he instead forged ahead towards embarrassing territory.
A walk to J.P. Arencibia loaded the bases for Aaron Hill, and Hill unloaded them with a grand slam.
It was his first homer of the season.
Edwin Encarnacion followed Hill both on the lineup card and in action, as he one-handed a solo shot into the upper deck to make it a back-to-back affair.
It was his first homer of the season, too.
The Sox were down 6-1 before Danks could retire two batters, and it was all downhill from there. The Sox had a chance early against Ricky Romero, but Rajai Davis killed any potential comeback by running down a Brent Lillibridge drive to deep center. He needed every ounce of his speed and every inch of his height to flag it down, and he saved at least one run in the process.
The rest of the details are inconsequential. It was all on the pitching staff, because even when Juan Pierre charged a sinking liner and let it get past him, Alex Rios was able to run it down by the wall and start a 9-6-5 putout at third to end the inning. There were just a lot of hard-hit balls, both off Danks and sacrificial lamb Lucas Harrell, who was just called up today in order to take a beating.
Their lines say it all:
- Danks: 4 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR
- Harrell: 4 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Danks is now 0-8, but the 5.25 ERA makes him look far more deserving of it.
Romero eventually settled down, too, and resembled his recent very good form. He allowed a Paul Konerko RBI single in the third, but he struck out the side in the fourth on his way to a strong seven innings.
The Sox offense did help him out a little bit. Carlos Quentin walked to lead off the sixth and Konerko first-to-thirded him with a single to right. But Rios popped out, Adam Dunn struck out, and Ramon Castro grounded out, and the Sox couldn't score off the threat.
Not that it mattered. At that point, the Sox trailed 12-2.
Record: 24-31 | Box score | Play-by-play