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Blue Jays-White Sox Preview

May 6, 2010 - 4:37 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Toronto (15-13) at Chicago (11-16), 8:10 p.m. EDT

Poor starting pitching has been a key reason the Chicago White Sox are off to a disappointing start. John Danks, however, has not been part of the problem.

Danks tries for his fourth win when the White Sox open a four-game home series Thursday night against the Toronto Blue Jays, who are looking for their fifth consecutive victory.

Expected to be the strength of the team, Chicago's rotation ranks near the bottom of the majors with a 5.12 ERA. Danks (3-0, 1.85) has been the best of a unit that includes Mark Buehrle (5.30) and Jake Peavy (6.31).

One of Danks' better outings came April 14, when he allowed one run and two hits while striking out six in seven innings of an 11-1 win at Toronto.

Danks, who is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays, gave up two runs in five innings but didn't receive a decision in a 7-6 win at New York on Saturday.

"He has continued to throw the ball well since spring training," manager Ozzie Guillen told the White Sox's official website. "He's on the right track and hopefully every time we go out there we can put some runs up for him."

Though the White Sox (12-16) rank last in the majors batting .199 with runners in scoring position, they gave Freddy Garcia more than enough support in a 9-2 victory over Kansas City on Wednesday.

Andruw Jones and former Blue Jay Alex Rios each homered and drove in three runs as Chicago won for the fifth time in six games at home.

Rios was 6 for 17 with a homer when the White Sox split a four-game set at Toronto last month. Three of Jones' nine home runs came in that series.

Chicago could have its hands full this weekend against a Toronto team that's 9-3 on the road and trying for its second five-game winning streak of the season.

Adam Lind's two-out, two-run homer highlighted a three-run ninth inning Wednesday as the Blue Jays (16-13) won 5-4 to open a 10-game trip with a sweep of Cleveland.

"It'd be nice to get quite a few wins on this road trip. It's a pretty long road trip," second baseman Aaron Hill told the Blue Jays' official website.

Lind snapped an 0-for-19 skid with two hits Wednesday for Toronto, which is averaging 4.6 runs on the road. Lind was 5 for 17 with two doubles and four RBIs against Chicago last month. He's 3 for 6 against Danks.

Dana Eveland (2-1, 4.76) looks to bounce back from his last two starts when he takes the ball for the Blue Jays in this game.

The left-hander allowed five runs through his first three starts but has given up 11 over 9 2-3 innings of his last two. Eveland gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-3 loss to Oakland on Saturday.

He's 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA against the White Sox, allowing two runs in six innings of a 7-3 win April 15.