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Bonderman helps Tigers beat White Sox 5-1

Sep 9, 2010 - 2:40 AM DETROIT(AP) -- Talk about a rough couple of nights for the Chicago White Sox. At the worst time, too.

Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight strong innings and the Detroit Tigers beat sloppy Chicago 5-1 on Wednesday, handing the White Sox another costly loss.

The White Sox entered Tuesday's game with a seven-game winning streak, but have been outscored 14-2 by the Tigers over the last two nights, including seven unearned runs. They dropped 5 1/2 games back of AL Central-leading Minnesota, which beat Kansas City 4-3 for its sixth consecutive victory.

Chicago wraps up its four-game series at Detroit with a day game on Thursday.

"We know that we are better than we've played the last two nights," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We've got to forget about this, because tomorrow afternoon is now a big game. If we win, we go 8-2 on our road trip, which is great. If we lose, that's three in a row."

Bonderman (8-9) picked up where Justin Verlander left off on Tuesday, allowing one run and three hits. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one.

"That's the best I've felt in a while," said Bonderman, who threw a season-high 114 pitches. "That's what you strive for as a pitcher. It doesn't happen often, but it definitely feels good."

After Bonderman's last two seasons were ruined by a blood clot in his shoulder, Tigers manager Jim Leyland has been cautious with him this year. But Bonderman tied a season best for innings with the effort against Chicago.

"We're a little short in the pen, and I felt he was getting some quick outs, so I thought he would be OK for eight innings," Leyland said. "He didn't have an overpowering fastball, but he changed speeds pretty well and he kept the ball down."

John Danks (13-10) pitched six innings for the White Sox, yielding five runs, two earned, and eight hits.

"I felt great, but I ran into a bit of bad luck and didn't make a couple pitches I needed to make," Danks said. "We're still upbeat, and we still think we've got a chance, but we've really shot ourselves in the foot over the last two days."

Bonderman retired the first 10 batters of the game before Omar Vizquel broke the scoreless tie with his second homer of the season. Vizquel's other homer also came against Detroit on June 10 against Max Scherzer.

Detroit responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of third baseman Mark Teahen's second error of the game. With a runner on first and one out, Casper Wells hit what looked like a routine double-play grounder, but Teahen threw the ball into right field.

"I made the first error, and I didn't do a good job of putting it behind me," Teahen said. "That let to the second one, which really hurt us. You can't have a two-error game at this time of the year in this situation."

Jhonny Peralta then walked, loading the bases, and Brandon Inge hit a two-run single. After Don Kelly struck out, Alex Avila added a two-run double to center.

"That's what you need to do when you get a break," Leyland said. "You don't get many of those - the White Sox are good at that - so when you get one, you have to take advantage."

In the top of the fifth, Bonderman threw a breaking ball that sailed well over the head of Andruw Jones and to the backstop. Danks' first pitch in the bottom of the inning flew close to the head of Ryan Raburn, causing plate umpire Brian Gorman to warn both dugouts.

Danks acknowledged that the inside pitch wasn't an accident, citing the fact that the Tigers had knocked Manny Ramirez out of Tuesday's game by hitting him with a pair of pitches, but stressed he hadn't tried to hit Raburn.

"They hit Manny twice yesterday and almost hit Andruw, so we were definitely trying to send a message," Danks said. "We didn't hit anyone, so I don't know if the warning was warranted, but I can definitely understand why the umpire did it. It is his job to keep control out there, so you can't fault him."

Raburn doubled on the next pitch and later scored on Wells' infield single.

NOTES: Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera (shoulder) sat out with tendinitis in his left shoulder and biceps. Cabrera, who has been dealing with the problem since early last week, left Tuesday's game after six innings. ... White Sox 2B Gordon Beckham (hand) missed his second straight game, but Ramirez started after leaving Tuesday's game after being hit on the left hand and wrist by both Verlander and Robbie Weinhardt. ... Teahen has made 10 errors in 44 career games at third base against the Tigers. ... The game took just 2 hours, 4 minutes.