John Danks and the White Sox are focused on catching Detroit and Cleveland in the AL Central. Moving about .500 would be a nice start. Danks pitched six strong innings, Brent Lillibridge hit a three-run homer and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Sunday. Paul Konerko added three hits for the White Sox (60-60), who have won eight of 10 to reach .500. They haven’t had a winning record since they were 7-6 on April 15. Alexei Ramirez had two hits and scored twice as Chicago improved its abysmal home record to 26-33 and moved within four games of AL Central-leading Detroit, which lost 8-5 at Baltimore. The White Sox also won consecutive games in a single series at U.S. Cellular Field for the first time since June 21 and 22 against the Cubs.Danks (5-9) allowed two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked four, improving to 5-1 with a 2.29 ERA in his last nine starts. The left-hander lost his first eight decisions of the season.Jeff Francis (4-13) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven. Top prospect Mike Moustakas went 0 for 3 and is 0 for 34 this season against the Sox.The White Sox jumped on Francis in the first inning. Ramirez was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to third on Konerko’s single. Carlos Quentin then hit an RBI single and Lillibridge drove a 1-2 fastball over the wall in left for his 10th homer.Francis has allowed 26 runs in the first inning over his 25 starts this season. Danks was working on a no-hitter before Butler reached on a bad-hop single with two out in the sixth. Butler’s roller down the first-base line hopped up and past Lillibridge. Official scorer Bob Rosenberg originally ruled the play an error, but the call was quickly changed to a hit. Jeff Francoeur followed with a double down the left-field line and Mitch Maier had a two-run single to cut the White Sox lead to 6-2. The White Sox open an important three-game series against second-place Cleveland on Tuesday. They are 6-1 against the Tribe this year.

NOTES—Royals RHP Felipe Paulino is Monday’s scheduled starter against the Yankees. In his last start, Paulino pitched five innings before leaving with a 3-1 lead after 84 pitches due to back stiffness. … White Sox C A.J. Pierzynski missed his third straight game with a bruised left wrist. … White Sox DH Adam Dunn was not with the team for the third straight day to tend to family matters. … Konerko reached base 10 times on 14 plate appearances during the three-game series.

If indeed he was experiencing flashbacks, Jay Cutler wasn’t saying. Who could blame him if he did, though? Cutler was on the run and out of the game in hurry, playing just one series as the Bears opened the preseason with a 10-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills that did nothing to ease lingering concerns about the offensive line. “They were good. They were fine,” Cutler said. “It took a little bit to get settled down. Some of those young guys are still jelling a little bit.” The Bills got two sacks from Shawne Merriman and nine in all, but the Bears prevailed on a soggy night in which both teams pulled their starters early.Cutler and skill position starters were gone after one series, with the linemen staying in for the first half. On defense, the first stringers lasted two series, while the Bills lifted their starters on both sides after two. The way Cutler was running around, it sure felt like last season. Sacked a league-leading 52 times a year ago, there wasn’t much he could do Saturday with the defense bearing down on him. At least this one didn’t end with a knee injury or with the outside attacks on his toughness, as his previous appearance at Soldier Field – an NFC championship loss to Green Bay in January.All Cutler managed behind a revamped line that no longer includes departed center Olin Kreutz was this — a shovel pass to Matt Forte on the Bears’ second play from scrimmage for no gain and then a 10-yard scramble. He got sacked by rookie Marcell Dareus on a third down at the 35 before the Bears punted. Newcomer Roy Williams didn’t have a ball thrown his way. Forte stayed on for one more play after that shovel pass and didn’t attempt a run but was at least in uniform. He had considered holding out at the start of training camp because he wants a new contract, and considered sitting out this one, too. Newcomer Marion Barber made a good impression, running for 45 yards and leading the Bears to a second-quarter touchdown. He carried six times for 37 yards on that drive, setting up a 4-yard run by backup quarterback Caleb Hanie that put thye Bears ahead 7-3.Hanie got a rude welcome on the previous possession when he was sacked on consecutive plays by Merriman. That forced Chicago to punt after Johnny Knox returned the kickoff 70 yards following a 44-yard field goal by Rian Lindell late in the first quarter. For the line, it was simply a rough night.Kreutz, the six-time Pro Bowl center, is gone after contract negotiations collapsed, and the Bears are going with veteran Roberto Garza rather than newcomer Chris Spencer for now. Garza got beat on Merriman’s second sack, and it wasn’t a great night for the rest of the blockers, either.”Too much pressure on the quarterback,” coach Lovie Smith said. “We have to tighten that up a little bit. But besides that offensively I thought we accomplished what we wanted to the first game. We have so far to go.” They never got the spark they were seeking from Merriman in November because the three-time Pro Bowler injured his Achilles’ tendon about 15 minutes into his first practice with Buffalo after being waived by San Diego. He missed the rest of the season. It wasn’t a bad night for Ryan Fitzpatrick, either. He completed 7 of 9 passes for 44 yards for the Bills.Stevie Johnson, the man the Bills are counting on to take over the No. 1 spot with Lee Evans gone, caught three passes for 15 yards. Fred Jackson ran for 18 yards on three carries.

NOTES—The Bears kicked off twice from the 30 rather than the 35 because they wanted to test their coverage unit. The Bills were OK with that. … Chester Taylor ran for 3 yards on three carries. …Zack Bowman (head), DE Corey Wootton (knee) and DT Marcus Harrison (shoulder) were injured during the game. … The Bears held out DT Anthony Adams (left calf). … Buffalo was without WR/PR Roscoe Parrish (left leg).

ATLANTA— Dan Uggla again took care of extending his hitting streak early in the game. This time, it wasn’t enough to spark another Atlanta win.The latest entry in Uggla’s improbable hitting streak was not enough as Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney each had four hits to help the Cubs beat the Braves 8-4 on Saturday night. Uggla had a first-inning single and a fourth-inning homer off Randy Wells (4-4) to extend his hitting streak to 33 games.The majors’ longest streak this season began on July 5 when Uggla was hitting .173. The longest streak in Atlanta Braves history has lifted Uggla’s average to .232.Uggla hasn’t been waiting until late in the game to snap the tension that has been building in the Braves’ clubhouse.Castro drove in two runs and Wells gave up two runs on eight hits in five-plus innings for the Cubs, who have won 10 of 13.Derek Lowe (7-11) gave up five runs on 10 hits in six innings. He allowed three hits, including Carlos Pena’s two-run double that gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the fifth.Pena’s hit was the one Lowe wished he could take back. He kicked the dirt on the first-base line in disgust as he left the field at the end of the inning. James Russell walked Uggla to load the bases with one out in the ninth after giving up singles to Martin Prado and Freddie Freeman.Cubs manager Mike Quade brought in closer Carlos Marmol, who gave up a long fly ball to Chipper Jones to drive in Prado before ending the game when Alex Gonzalez hit a pop fly to Castro at shortstop. Marmol earned his 27th save.The Cubs won after general manager Jim Hendry announced the team placed right-hander Carlos Zambrano on the disqualified list. Zambrano will not be paid and have no part in team activities for 30 days. Zambrano cleaned out his locker and left the team after giving up five homers and being ejected from Friday night’s 10-4 loss to the Braves. He did not return to the team Saturday.Quade said he wasn’t surprised when his team responded to the controversy with a win. The Cubs added two runs in the sixth. Tyler Colvin led off with a triple to center. Atlanta’s Michael Bourn had the long drive in the top of his glove before losing the ball when he crashed into the wall.Colvin scored on Geovany Soto’s grounder to third. Chipper Jones threw high to the plate and was initially charged with an error. After the game, Soto was awarded an RBI when the error was changed to a fielder’s choice grounder. Soto scored on Castro’s single.A fielding miscue by left fielder Martin Prado hurt the Braves in the eighth. After Alfonso Soriano led off the inning with an infield hit, Colvin hit a liner that skipped off the charging Prado’s glove for an error, allowing pinch-runner Tony Campana to advance to third.Right-hander Cristhian Martinez fielded pinch-hitter Blake DeWitt’s grounder and threw to the plate, but Campana slid under Ross’ tag. Castro and Barney added run-scoring singles.Uggla was hit by a pitch before scoring on Alex Gonzalez’s single in the sixth. Jones, who had three hits, doubled and scored on a groundout by Jose Constanza in the eighth.Rico Carty hit in 31 straight games in 1970 for the previous Atlanta record. Tommy Holmes holds the franchise record with 37 as a member of the Boston Braves in 1945.Uggla leads the Braves and is one off the National League lead with 27 homers, including 12 in 27 games since the All-Star break. Uggla’s homer was his 49th hit in the 33-game streak. He had 55 hits in his first 86 games of 2011.

NOTES—The Braves had a pregame video tribute for former radio and TV broadcaster Ernie Johnson Sr., who died Friday night at the age of 87. Johnson was involved with the team for more than 50 years as a player, executive and broadcaster…..A collection of players from the Braves’ 1991 NL championship team took a 7-7 tie in a softball game against former Braves players from other years. John Smoltz hit a two-run homer and made an over-the-shoulder catch in center field for the 1991 team, which was managed by Bobby Cox. Many of the players attended Friday night’s ceremony to retire Cox’s No. 6….Braves rookie Brandon Beachy will try for his sixth win against Matt Garza in Sunday’s final game of the series. Garza will be making his first career start against Atlanta, and Beachy will make his first start against the Cubs…..Braves C Brian McCann expects to return from a strained left oblique injury Sunday. He played his second rehab game with Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday…..Castro matched his career high with his four hits.

Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer and Tyler Flowers added his first home run in the majors to lead the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Konerko went deep in the third and Flowers added a solo shot in the fifth to help the White Sox snap a seven-game home losing streak. Flowers also had a single and a walk.Juan Pierre had three singles and scored two runs.Jesse Crain (7-3) got the win in relief after pitching out of starter Jake Peavy’s jam in the seventh and his own in the eighth. Chris Sale got the last three outs, earning his fourth save. Peavy allowed four runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings.Luke Hochevar (8-9) took the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs in six innings. He had won four straight decisions and hadn’t lost in eight starts dating to June 21.Billy Butler stroked a two-run single for the Royals, and Johnny Giavotella added two hits and an RBI. The White Sox have won seven of their last nine, but they had lost seven straight at U.S. Cellular Field by a combined score of 54-17. The start of the game was delayed by 1 hour, 25 minutes due to thunderstorms that moved through the Chicago area late Saturday afternoon. There was another delay of 42 minutes prior to the start of the eighth. The White Sox took the lead with a two-run seventh. Carlos Quentin drove in the tying run with an RBI double into the left-field corner. Alejandro De Aza forced in the go-ahead run with a bases loaded walk. Both runs came with Royals reliever Aaron Crow on the mound but both were charged to Hochevar, who issued a single and a walk to start the inning before being pulled.Hochevar pitched out of jams effectively for most of the game, allowing the leadoff man to reach in six of seven innings.The Royals overcame an early 2-0 deficit with a four-run rally in the fifth. Butler’s two-out, two-run single put the Royals up 4-2. Butler got his chance when Guillen had Melky Cabrera intentionally walked in front of him to load the bases.The White Sox cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth on Flowers’ homer. For Flowers, who was playing in his 25th game over the last three seasons, it was also his first career RBI.With two outs and one on in the third, Konerko hit a 1-2 fastball into the left field seats, putting the White Sox up 2-0. It was Konerko’s 27th homer and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.After the Royals fell behind 5-4, they got the first two runners on in the eighth against Crain, but Salvador Perez bounced into an inning-ending double play.

NOTES—A.J. Pierzynski [bruised left wrist] was out of the lineup Saturday and manager Ozzie Guillen said he doesn’t expect him to play Sunday against Royals LHP Jeff Francis. … Konerko [left knee] said he is close to being able to return to playing defense. Guillen said Wednesday is the earliest he would consider putting Konerko back at first base. Konerko hasn’t played in the field since being hit by a pitch on July 31 against Boston. … Adam Dunn (personal) was not with the team Saturday and Guillen said he won’t play until Tuesday since the lefty Francis takes the hill Sunday and the team is off Monday. … The Royals and White Sox will play the finale of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. Francis will start for Kansas City against John Danks. Francis has allowed just four earned runs in 12 2/3 innings in two starts against the Sox this season but has ended up with no-decisions in both outings. Danks started the season 0-8 but is 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA in his last eight starts. The ERA is the fourth-lowest in baseball over that span. … Kansas City’s Melky Cabrera went 2 for 3. He’s hitting .400 (60 for 150) since July 2, the best average in the major leagues. … Mike Moustakas went 0 for 4 and fell to 0 for 31 against the White Sox in his first big-league season

ATLANTA—Is the Carlos Zambrano over on the North Side? Deside for yourself. Dan Uggla belted a pair of solo homers off Carlos Zambrano to extend his hitting streak to an Atlanta-record 32 games and lead the Braves to a 10-4 victory over the Cubs on Friday night. “It’s crazy,” Uggla said following his second straight three-hit game. “It’s not one of the things I set for a goal when I came over here.”

Zambrano (9-7) gave up eight runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. The volatile right-hander then packed up his locker and talked about retiring before leaving the clubhouse. After an outing in which he allowed five home runs as part of eight earned runs in 4 1/3 inning — before getting himself ejected seemingly on purpose — mercurial Cubs starting pitcher Zambrano has cleaned out his locker, left the clubhouse and told some people he’s retiring from baseball (per multiple reporters, including Sun Times).
This is not the first time Zambrano has mentioned retirement, but in the past it always seemed like a bit of a joke or his response to questions from reporters. This time around, he left the locker room before anyone even noticed. He reportedly told a Cubs’ trainer that he was “retired” and just left with all his belongings (Tribune via Twitter).
Given that Zambrano is prone to emotional overreactions, it’s hard to tell if he’s serious or not. Of course, all the reporters in the locker room said manager Mike Quade was incredibly angry and that Zambrano’s status is “unclear” even if he tries to return to the Cubs. There is a precedent in place, as general manager Jim Hendry suspended disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley for the last several weeks of the 2009 season before trading him in the offseason.
“We will respect his wishes and honor them and move forward,” Hendry told Paul Sullivan of the Tribune, when asked about the retirement.
Zambrano, 30, is a three-time All Star and finished fifth in Cy Young voting three times for the Cubs as well. He’s 125-80 with a 3.25 ERA in his 11-year career, which has been spent entirely with the Cubs. He has regressed in the past several years, however, save for a few spurts where it appeared he was back to his old self.
Zambrano does have one year and $19 million left on his contract, which also includes a vesting option for 2013. Should he file retirement papers, he’d forfeit it.

Freeman and Uggla hit back-to-back homers in the fifth to give Atlanta an 8-1 lead. Zambrano then threw one pitch inside to Jones and was immediately tossed after the Atlanta star had to jump back to avoid another inside pitch. As Jones stood at the plate, staring at Zambrano, the Braves came out of their dugout. Plate Umpire Tim Timmons rushed toward the dugout, cautioning the players not to come out any farther. Zambrano looked back at Jones as he walked off the field, then was shown on TV smiling before leaving the dugout. Zambrano dropped to 2-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 13 career starts against Atlanta. The right-hander has dropped his last five decisions against the Braves. Atlanta rookie Mike Minor (2-2) gave up three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed three hits in the sixth, including a two-run double by Soriano. Braves left fielder Martin Prado almost caught Soriano’s drive, but the ball bounced out of his glove when he crashed into the wall. Rookie right-hander Arodys Vizcaino pitched two scoreless innings for Atlanta. Jones, three of Cox’s top former pitchers — Former Cub Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz — and team president John Schuerholz spoke at the pregame ceremony. Cox also was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.Zambrano allowed a career-worst five homers, and Mike Quade said he then left the team. “I’m really disappointed,” Quade said. “His locker is empty. He walked out on 24 guys … I don’t know where he’s gone or what he’s doing. He’s talking about retiring … but I can’t have a guy walking out on 24 guys.”

Zambrano was ejected by Timmons in the fifth inning after throwing two inside pitches to Jones, the second going all the way to the backstop. The brush-back pitches followed homers by Freddie Freeman and Uggla.

Jose Constanza also went deep against Zambrano. Starlin Castro homered and Alfonso Soriano had two RBI for the Cubs, who had won nine of 11.

NOTES—Uggla entered Friday night’s game batting .355 (44 for 124) with 12 homers and 29 RBI during the streak, but only .224 overall….The Cubs announced they have agreed to terms with first baseman Trevor Gretzky, the son of former hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Trevor Gretzky, 18, was a seventh-round pick from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian High School…..Braves C Brian McCann [strained left oblique] began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. He was to have one game as a designated hitter, one game as a catcher and then possibly come off the disabled list on Sunday…..Jones’ homer was his 1,000th extra-base hit…..Attendance was 50,146.

Alex Rios stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Having notched four multi-hit performances in six road games, this was his chance to show the home crowd he had turned the corner in what has been a miserable season. Rios hit a lazy fly to right field to strand all three runners, a microcosm of ineptitude at U.S. Cellular Field this year.The embattled center fielder came to the plate in the same situation two innings later, producing the same result.The White Sox left 10 men on base and were baffled by Bruce Chen for the third time this season as the Kansas City Royals won 5-1 on Friday night. “Same old movie,” Ozzie Guillen said. “We made him work a little bit today, better than the last time we faced him. But to still go out of the game with one hit … I’m not going to take away any credit. This kid went out and pitched well against us.” Chen (7-5) pitched six innings of one-hit ball to improve to 2-0 against the White Sox in three starts this season. He has given up just two runs on nine hits over 20 innings (0.90 ERA). The lefty has a 5.03 ERA in 13 starts against the rest of the major leagues. A.J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch on the left wrist in the third inning and was removed after the fourth. X-rays were negative and he’s considered day-to-day. “It’s sore,” he said. “It could have been worse. Luckily, there’s no fracture or anything in there. It’s sore and we will see how it feels tomorrow.” Rios was responsible for seven of the 10 runners left on base. After going 9 for 22 over a five-day span, Rios is hitless in his last nine at-bats.The White Sox fell to 24-33 at home, the worst mark among AL teams.Billy Butler and Melky Cabrera homered to lead the Royals. Butler homered in the sixth and had an RBI single in the first. Cabrera broke the game open with a three-run homer in the ninth.Alex Gordon singled, doubled, walked twice, scored a run, stole a base and reached on catcher’s interference for the Royals, who snapped a four-game losing streak.Rookie Zach Stewart (1-2) pitched well in his White Sox home debut. He held the Royals to two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings despite allowing the first four batters of the game to reach base.Juan Pierre had an RBI single, driving in the Sox only run in the ninth, and walked twice. Paul Konerko singled, extending his hitting streak to nine games, and walked twice. The White Sox had just three hits in the game but still managed to strand 10 runners.The White Sox have lost seven straight at U.S. Cellular Field and 13 of their last 17. They fell five games behind Detroit in the AL Central.Rios ended both the first and third by flying out with the bases loaded. Rios, who entered the game hitting .170 in 94 at-bats with runners in scoring position, was loudly booed after each plate appearance. NOTES—Sox OF Alejandro De Aza took groundballs at first base during pregame drills. Manager Ozzie Guillen said that if Adam Dunn continues to struggle, De Aza gives him another first base option against right-handed pitching. … Jake Peavy will start on Saturday against Kansas City’s Luke Hochevar. Hochevar is 4-0 over his last eight starts, with the Royals going 7-1 in those games. Peavy has dropped four of his last five decisions. …A.J. Pierzynski had to leave the game after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch in the third. X-rays on the injury were negative and he’s listed as day-to-day. … Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch in the first inning. It was the 23rd hit by pitch for Quentin this season, tying a White Sox record set by Minnie Minoso in 1956.

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