Rays halt White Sox winning streak at five

ST. PETERBURG, Fla. – On these nights when John Danks has one of those rough starts – and the White Sox left-hander had his second in as many outings Saturday – the Sox lineup is going to be asked to carry the freight.

It was asked in the Rays’ 7-2 win that halted a five-game winning streak and did not respond in the latest offensive performance that mirrored last season more than anyone associated with the team would care to mention.

But these are the facts: After averaging four runs a game in their first four games in Oakland, the Sox (8-3) have averaged three in the last seven. In six games, they’ve been held to three runs or less, with three, one and and two runs in their last three games.

That the Sox have lost only three games speaks to the remarkable performance by the pitching staff, which went into Saturday with a major league best 2.01 ERA.

“We need to get something going,’’ manager Robin Ventura said. “You can’t sit there and expect these guys to shut people out or give up only one. The offense needs to pick these guys up and get some runs going.’’

These are some of the batting averages in the Sunday paper box score: Jimmy Rollins .216, Jose Abreu .237, Todd Frazier .178, Avisail Garcia .171, Austin Jackson .194. All are below career norms, and the sample size is small, so there is was no sense of doom in a clubhouse that was quiet for the first time since the Sox lost their home opener more than a week ago.

“The first thing we all said when we came in here was, ‘Wash it boys, keep playing the game the way we have and let the chips fall where they may,’ ‘’ said right fielder and leadoff man Adam Eaton, who had two hits to raise his average to .366. “There’s no panic in here.’’

After right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, making his first start after three relief appearances, held the Sox to three hits over 5 2/3 innings (including an infield single by Eaton and a Frazier pop-up that fell behind second baseman Tim Beckham), Brett Lawrie cut the Rays lead to 4-2 in the seventh with a long homer against Steve Getz that hit the C ring catwalk above the upper deck.

But that was it for the Sox, who quickly fell behind 4-0 after four innings as Danks gave up homers to Brandon Guyer and Brad Miller.

Danks (five runs on six hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings) said he threw better than in the home opener against the Indians when he gave up seven runs (five earned) in five innings.

“That’s something to build on,’’ a dejected Danks said. “But this league is about wins and losses. It’s disappointing.’’

Danks has lost his last five starts dating to the end of 2015, with a 6.91 ERA. His two outings are the only disappointing ones by Sox starters thus far. Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon and Mat Latos have all been excellent.

“Our pitching has stepped up,’’ Rodon said. “And if our pitching has lulls our hitting has to step up.

“Our hitting has a ton of potential. The ceiling is extremely high. Sooner or later …. there’s no worry here at all. Guys are going to come together and win the series [Sunday] and keep this thing going. We’ll continue to grind things out.’’

Said Ventura: “We’re not going to win them all, but I like the way they fight. We’ll just keep going and come back tomorrow.’’

The Rays improved to 4-7.

The three-game series concludes Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Jose Quintana will start against Rays lefty Matt Moore.