Danks blanks Angels 1-0, complete four game sweep

John Danks got the ball, took the signs from catcher A.J. Pierzynski and then let it go. And for six innings, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim couldn’t hit what he delivered.After losing his no-hit bid to start the seventh, Danks maintained his composure and finished with his first career shutout on a two-hitter as the surging White Sox beat the Angels 1-0, completing a four-game sweep and winning for the 22nd time in 27 games.The game lasted only 1 hour, 50 minutes on a muggy 79-degree day. Stepping up just a day after the White Sox learned they might be without ace Jake Peavy for the rest of the season, Danks, whose previous low-hit performance was a three-hitter last September against the Indians — his only other complete game — worked quickly and was in control of his pitches from the outset.The sturdy lefty had no walks and seven strikeouts, winning a duel with the Angels’ Ervin Santana.The Sox got a run off Santana (8-7) in the first as he hit leadoff batter Juan Pierre with a pitch, Alex Rios doubled to left and Paul Konerko delivered a sacrifice fly.And then Danks made it stand up.Reggie Willits grounded a single just underneath the reach of Alexei Ramirez to lead off the seventh for the first hit against Danks, who’d lost his previous two starts. Howie Kendrick then followed with a single up the middle and the Angels had their first threat of the game.But Danks escaped, getting Torii Hunter on a fielder’s choice, Mike Napoli on a pop and then leaping high to snag Juan Rivera’s comebacker before throwing him out.So when did Danks realize he was working on a no-hitter, which could have been the fifth in the majors this season? The Sox won their fifth straight and moved within a half game of idle Detroit for first place in the AL Central.The only Angel to get on base in the first five innings was Cory Aldridge, who reached on third baseman Omar Vizquel’s two-out error in the third. Pierzynski then made a nice sliding, bobbling catch of Erick Aybar’s foul pop to end the inning.Santana gave up only three hits with three walks and four strikeouts to go with the one hit batsman — the only runner who scored in the entire game.

NOTES—With Danks on the mound, slumping lefties Hideki Matsui (4 for 22 in July) and Bobby Abreu (1 for 24) got the day off…..Guillen was asked how the White Sox would fill the rotation vacancy created by the injury to Peavy, who has a detached muscle behind his pitching shoulder. “I think you got to stay in the organization. You don’t just pull up the magic thing and make a trade,” Guillen said. “I think you’ve got to stay in the organization.” Daniel Hudson, 11-4 at Triple-A Charlotte, is a possibility.