After putting together short winning streaks to start the year, the White Sox now find themselves on the other side, in the midst of a downhill skid, now standing at five losses in a row. They'll turn to John Danks on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay to try to turn things around.
Danks is still looking for his first win of the year. Though he pitched a strong eight innings in his last start, giving up just one earned run, the White Sox bullpen collapsed and left him with a no decision. So far, he's 0-1 with 3.15 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Against the Rays over his career, Danks is 5-2 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in eight starts. Few of the Rays have had much experience against Danks, and of those that have, only three hit him decently well. Casey Kotchman is 4-for-13 wit ha double and a triple, while Reid Brignac is 3-for-6 and Sean Rodriguez is 3-for-8, both with triples.
Throwing for the Rays this evening will be James Shields. On the season so far, Shields is 0-1 with a 3.98 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over three starts. The White Sox have already seen Shields once this season. In that start he pitched 6.0 innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits. The Sox also took him deep three times. Over his career against the Sox, Shields is 2-2 with a 5.33 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in eight starts. Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez have both hit Shields well. Beckham is 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run, and Alexei is 6-for-15 with two home runs.
First pitch is at 5:40 P.M., and the game will be televised on WCIU and Sun Sports HD.