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Tigers 6, White Sox 2

CHICAGO (AP) -- Chad Durbin threw strikes and let Ivan Rodriguez handle the strategy.

Durbin struck out a career-high nine in eight innings and Magglio Ordonez had three hits and three RBIs against his former team as the Detroit Tigers defeated Chicago 6-2 on Wednesday night.

Rodriguez had three hits to go along with his good work behind the plate for the Tigers, who won for just the third time in seven games.

Durbin (1-1), the journeyman right-hander who took Kenny Rogers' spot in the rotation when the veteran left-hander went on the disabled list with a blood clot, gave up just three hits in his 60th career start. He retired the first seven batters and retired the final 10 in order.

"There's strikes and there's quality strikes. For the most part, he threw quality strikes. And I thought Pudge called a [heck] of a game," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He changed speeds well. He used all his pitches. We obviously caught a big break with [Jim] Thome and [Jermaine] Dye out of the lineup. I don't want to take anything away from Chad, he played very well."

With the rain coming down and pitching in a cool 47 degrees, Joel Zumaya couldn't find the strike zone and complete the shutout, walking four and allowing two runs in 2-3 of an inning. Todd Jones finished off the four-hitter by getting Brian Anderson to groundout with the bases loaded. It was Jones' eighth save in 10 chances.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had Thome and Dye available on his bench in the ninth, who were resting with minor injuries, but Guillen decided to stay with Anderson. Guillen didn't want to risk further injuries to his two stars.

"No. because they weren't ready. I rather lose one game than lose Thome for two or three weeks and the same way for J.D. Those guys weren't ready to play today," said Guillen.

Durbin didn't have a problem with being taken out after eight inning and 106 pitches.

"I hadn't got out of the sixth inning or fifth inning before, so I think pitch count wasn't quite there. We got into the eighth and did what we could," said Durbin

The Tigers tagged White Sox rookie starter John Danks (0-3) for three runs in the first inning. Rodriguez led the game off with a double and scored on Placido Polanco's single. Polanco advanced to third on Gary Sheffield's double and Ordonez followed with a two-run single.

With one out in the fifth inning, Sheffield singled and Ordonez followed with a double off the fence in left. Sheffield scored from first to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

Ordonez, who played his first eight seasons with the White Sox, is batting .420 (25-for-60) with three homers in 16 games at U.S. Cellular Field since being signed by the Tigers as a free agent before the 2005 season.

Ordonez was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs on Tuesday against Anaheim and is 15-for-31 in his last eight games with 15 RBIs with a seven-game hitting streak.

"He's swinging as good as I've seen him swing," Leyland said.

Polanco added a two-run single in the ninth to make it 6-0.

Danks allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings. He struck out six and didn't allow a walk.

Guillen was impressed with Danks' performance despite a rough first inning.

"Every time he pitches we don't score, we don't help him," Guillen said. "One thing I love about this kid, I've said this before, this kid stayed out there like a man."

Game notes

Tigers SS Carlos Guillen missed the game with a sore shoulder. He is day-to-day. ... Thome missed his second straight game with a sore muscle in his right ribcage. Dye missed with a sore lower back. Both are listed day-to-day. ... The game started after a rain delay of 20 minutes. ... White Sox OF Rob Mackowiak doubled in the fifth, but pulled up going into second and left the game with a lower abdominal strain. ... Ordonez has 299 career doubles.