ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels were well aware that they had to get to John Danks early because he has a history of making things tough on them. So they came out swinging, and it paid off.
Kole Calhoun and Albert Pujols homered in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox left-hander, and the Angels held on for a 5-3 victory Tuesday night to remain 2 1-2 games behind first-place Houston in the AL West.
"Anytime you can get runs in the first inning, you know, it's always huge," Pujols said. "I mean, that's something that we've been struggling with the last couple of weeks after the (All-Star) break. Any time you can give our starting pitcher some run support right out the gate, it's always a plus. We would love to do that every night."
Garrett Richards (12-9) was charged with three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits in seven-plus innings with four strikeouts and no walks. The right-hander retired Melky Cabrera on double-play grounders his first two times up, then struck him out in the sixth with the potential tying run at the plate.
Richards threw 25 of his 95 pitches in the sixth inning, when the White Sox closed to 4-2 with a two-out RBI double by Jose Abreu. But the Angels got a run-scoring infield hit in the seventh from Shane Victorino.
Richards left in the eighth after giving up two singles. Adam Eaton drove in a run with a fielder's choice grounder against Joe Smith, but Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save in 33 chances.
Danks (6-10) was charged with five runs -- four earned -- and five hits in seven innings, increasing his ERA to 4.61.
"I really felt good about how I threw the ball, but I made three mistakes and got hurt on all three," Danks said. "Going up against a guy like Richards, you can't make too many mistakes. Unfortunately, I did. I feel confident going into every start. It just kind of stings to give up five runs on a night where I thought I had pretty good stuff and pretty good command to go with it."
Danks, who held the Angels to one run through 7 1/3 innings in a no-decision at Chicago six days earlier, found himself trailing 3-0 after just 12 pitches.
He hit Victorino with his third delivery, then gave up Calhoun's career-high 18th homer on his next pitch and surrendered Pujols' 33rd homer and 553rd of his career one out later. Until Tuesday, no one on the Angels' active roster had ever homered against Danks.
"I tried to get ahead of Calhoun, and he ambushed the first-pitch heater and hit it a long way," Danks said. "Then I hung a breaking ball to Albert -- threw a softball to a Hall of Famer -- and that's not a good idea. Outside of that, I through I threw the ball pretty well."
Pujols tied Mike Trout for the team lead in home runs. They are trying to become the first set of teammates with at least 40 homers each since Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye of the 2006 White Sox.
The Angels added an unearned run in the fourth when Johnny Giavotella doubled with two outs and scored on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Tyler Saladino after Saladino backhanded Carlos Perez's grounder near the bag.
Kaleb Cowart, the Angels' No.1 draft pick in 2010, made his major league debut at third base and was 0 for 3. His contract was purchased from Triple-A Salt Lake earlier Tuesday when third baseman Conor Gillaspie was designated for assignment.
Cowart was the fifth player to start at third for manager Mike Scioscia since David Freese went on the disabled list on July 23 because of a fractured right index finger. Cowart began the season with Class-A Inland Empire before he was promoted to Triple-A on June 11.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Jeff Samardzija (8-8) lost his last three starts against the Yankees, Royals and Cubs, surrendering 22 runs in 15 1/3 innings after posting consecutive road wins in which he pitched eight innings in each.
Angels: RHP Jered Weaver (4-9) will make his third start since coming off the DL. He is 0-5 with a 5.95 ERA over his last six outings, after going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his previous five. In 12 career starts against the White Sox, he is 9-2 with a 2.15 ERA and five straight wins.





Final
Series: Game 2 of 4

White Sox 3

(55-62, 25-34 away)

Angels 5

(62-57, 38-23 home)





10:05PM,EDT,August 18,2015
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California 

123456789 R H E
CHW 010001010 3 8 1
LAA 30010010 - 5 5 1
W: G. Richards (12-9)
L: J. Danks (6-10)
S: H. Street (29)
 
 
 
 
 
 
View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Chicago - Top of 1stSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Eaton struck out swinging.00
Abreu singled to center.00
Cabrera grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Abreu out at second.00
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 1stSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Victorino hit by pitch.00
Calhoun homered to center (402 feet), Victorino scored.02
Trout grounded out to third.02
Pujols homered to left (416 feet).03
Cron lined out to left.03
Aybar grounded out to pitcher.03
3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 2ndSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
García singled to right, García advanced to second on play.03
Shuck grounded out to second, García to third.03
Ramírez grounded out to shortstop, García scored.13
Sánchez grounded out to second.13
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Giavotella grounded out to third.13
Pérez struck out swinging.13
Cowart struck out swinging.13
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 3rdSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Flowers popped out to first.13
Saladino grounded out to third.13
Eaton grounded out to first.13
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Victorino popped out to second.13
Calhoun struck out swinging.13
Trout walked.13
Pujols grounded out to shortstop.13
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 4thSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Abreu singled to center.13
Cabrera grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, Abreu out at second.13
García grounded out to third.13
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 4thSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Cron flied out to center.13
Aybar grounded out to third.13
Giavotella doubled to left.13
Pérez safe at first on throwing error by third baseman Saladino, Giavotella scored.14
Cowart grounded out to third.14
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors
Chicago - Top of 5thSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Shuck struck out swinging.14
Ramírez grounded out to second.14
Sánchez grounded out to third.14
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 5thSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Victorino grounded out to shortstop.14
Calhoun grounded out to first.14
Trout grounded out to third.14
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 6thSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Flowers struck out swinging.14
Saladino singled to center.14
Saladino stole second.14
Eaton grounded out to first, Saladino to third.14
Abreu doubled to deep center, Saladino scored.24
Cabrera struck out swinging.24
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 6thSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Pujols popped out to second.24
Cron grounded out to third.24
Aybar grounded out to pitcher.24
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 7thSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
García reached on infield single to third.24
Shuck grounded into fielder's choice to first, García out at second.24
Ramírez grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Shuck out at second.24
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 7thSCORE
John Danks pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Giavotella grounded out to shortstop.24
Pérez doubled to left.24
Cowart grounded out to second, Pérez to third.24
Victorino reached on infield single to third, Pérez scored.25
Calhoun grounded out to first.25
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 8thSCORE
Garrett Richards pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Jackson at second base.25
Sánchez singled to right.25
Flowers reached on infield single to second, Sánchez to second.25
Smith relieved Richards.25
Saladino grounded into fielder's choice to second, Flowers out at second, Sánchez to third.25
Eaton grounded into fielder's choice to second, Sánchez scored, Saladino out at second.35
Abreu grounded out to third.35
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Matt Albers pitching for ChicagoCHWLAA
Albers relieved Danks.35
Trout flied out to right.35
Pujols grounded out to shortstop.35
Cron lined out to right.35
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Chicago - Top of 9thSCORE
Huston Street pitching for Los AngelesCHWLAA
Street relieved Smith.35
Cabrera flied out to right.35
García grounded out to shortstop.35
Shuck grounded out to second.35
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors


Chicago White Sox
HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Eaton CF40010114.261.341.409
Abreu 1B40310019.297.359.513
Cabrera LF40000123.275.315.395
García DH41200015.267.315.388
Shuck RF40000118.275.333.353
Ramírez SS30010010.238.264.350
Sánchez 2B31100010.232.269.332
Flowers C30100112.217.262.346
Saladino 3B3110007.241.276.350
Totals3238304128   
BATTING
2B: Abreu (22, Richards)
RBI: Ramírez (45), Abreu (70), Eaton (31)
2-out RBI: Abreu
GIDP: Cabrera 2, Ramírez
White Sox RISP: 1-7 (Abreu 1-1, Saladino 0-1, Shuck 0-1, Eaton 0-2, Ramírez 0-1, Cabrera 0-1)
Team LOB: 2
BASERUNNING
SB: Saladino (5, 2nd base off Richards/Pérez)
FIELDING
E: Saladino (3, throw)

Game Information

StadiumAngel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
Attendance37,114 (81.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time2:29
Weather76 degrees, clear
Wind9 mph
UmpiresHome Plate - Paul Nauert, First Base - Dana DeMuth, Second Base - Mike Estabrook, Third Base - Ed Hickox