Tigers Firmly In First Place; Clock Is Ticking For White Sox
DETROIT (AP) - The Chicago White Sox know they are running out of time.
The White Sox came up against overwhelming AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander on Friday night and lost 8-1 to the first-place Detroit Tigers.
The loss drops Chicago into third place in the AL Central, 6 1/2 games behind Detroit. Chicago has five games remaining against the Tigers this season, including the final two of this series.
"We're almost out of games," said White Sox starter John Danks, who struggled badly on the mound. "We have to win a lot more than we lost from here on out. We're going to have to win out against the Tigers, and we're still going to need some help."
The White Sox had won five of six, but didn't score off Verlander until the eighth inning.
"They definitely had everything rolling tonight, and they had their big gun out there," Chicago's Juan Pierre said.
"He pretty much went through us any way he wanted."
Verlander (21-5) improved to 19-2 since May 1, allowing one run on seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out six in Jim Leyland's 500th win as Tigers manager.
"I didn't change my game plan when we were leading 3-0 early, but once it got to be 8-0, I started throwing first-pitch fastballs," he said. "I figured if they were hacking, I could get some quick outs. It hurt me a little in the eighth, but you certainly can't complain about a game like this."
On a 95-degree day, Danks (6-10) never came close to matching Verlander, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings.
"Danks wasn't around the plate, and he was facing a pretty good hitting club that is swinging the bats well," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.
After Verlander needed just six pitches in the top of the first, Detroit staked him to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.
Jackson led off with a single, took second on Magglio Ordonez's groundout and scored on Delmon Young's triple. Young came home on Miguel Cabrera's RBI single, and Cabrera then stunned the sold-out crowd of 42,352 by stealing second base.
That put him in position to score on Alex Avila's single.
"That was all Miggy's doing - don't give me any credit for that one," Leyland said. "He saw that Danks wasn't paying attention and he got the base. That's a huge play, because it gets us a run."
Against Verlander, Guillen knew the game was almost over after one inning.
"When it is 3-0 in the first inning against that guy, you've got a pretty rough slope to climb," he said.
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth, with the White Sox only putting one runner in scoring position.
Brandon Inge led off Detroit's fifth with a single, and scored on Jackson's ninth homer of the season.
A single and two walks loaded the bases with two out, and Guillen pulled Danks in favor of Josh Kinney. The move didn't pay off, as Peralta lined a bases-clearing double to give the Tigers their eight-run lead.
Tyler Flowers broke up Verlander's shutout with a 425-foot homer on the first pitch of the eighth, and Chicago loaded the bases with one out before Joaquin Benoit came out of the bullpen. Paul Konerko flew out to left, and A.J. Pierzynski lined out to Cabrera at first.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
