White Sox 5 - 3 Guardians
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Danks, White Sox hope to rebound vs. Indians

May 8, 2012 - 2:56 PM

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(Sports Network) - Lefty John Danks faces the Cleveland Indians for the third time this season tonight when the Chicago White Sox visit them at Progressive Field for game three of a four-game series.

The teams opened the series with a pair of encounters Monday and Shelley Duncan's run-scoring double in the bottom of the eighth inning helped the Indians take a 3-2 victory in the second meeting and complete the sweep.

The Indians won the early portion, 8-6, behind a pair of two-run doubles by Casey Kotchman and Michael Brantley.

"We made it through it without our bullpen and got two wins out of it. The (starting pitchers) deserve a lot of credit," Indians manager Manny Acta said.

Brantley and Jason Kipnis each knocked in runs in the nightcap for the Indians, who won for the sixth time in seven games.

Joe Smith (2-1) earned the win despite giving up the tying run in the top of the eighth inning. Tony Sipp tossed a scoreless ninth for his first save of the year.

Matt Thornton (1-2) allowed the deciding run to suffer the loss for Chicago, which dropped its third straight.

Danks, who'd gone 3-7 against the Indians in 13 starts before this season, met them for the first time in 2012 on April 11 and allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 10-6 victory.

He met them again in his most recent start on May 3, when he went seven innings and was raked for seven runs on nine hits in seven innings of a 7-5 loss at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

The 27-year-old Texan is 1-3 in his other four starts, in which the White Sox have been outscored, 20-14.

Danks won a career-best 15 games for Chicago in 2010 before skidding to just eight wins in 27 starts last season.

For the Indians, right-hander Justin Masterson also faces Danks and the White Sox for the third time in seven starts.

The 27-year-old, born in Kingston, Jamaica, allowed three earned runs on eight hits in five innings in the April 11 outing, then tossed 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball in earning the May 3 victory.

Masterson was 3-4 in 14 games against Chicago prior to 2012.

He was 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA in three home starts in April.

The Indians have won four straight over the White Sox.






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