ESPN MLB

White Sox 6, Twins 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- John Danks was walking toward the White Sox clubhouse after a night's work, when he was suddenly met by beer-toting teammates who cracked open the cans and dumped the contents on his head.

Six starts into his major league career, Danks finally has his first victory.

Danks pitched deep into the seventh on Wednesday, giving up just one run and guiding Chicago past the Minnesota Twins 6-3.

"This kid's been great. This kid should have a couple of more wins," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I love the way he's handling himself on the mound."

Danks (1-4) didn't give up a hit until the fifth and held the Twins to just three.

"He was on the outside corner all day," said Minnesota's Torii Hunter, who went 0-for-3 against Danks but extended his hitting streak to 23 games with an infield single in the eighth.

Shortstop Juan Uribe made an off-balance scoop of Hunter's grounder, but his low throw scooted past first baseman Paul Konerko -- an error that allowed two runs to score against Mike MacDougal.

Boone Logan came in and struck out Justin Morneau on three pitches to end that threat. Bobby Jenks got three outs for his 11th save in 12 tries after walking the first two batters in the ninth.

Ramon Ortiz (3-3) wasn't so fortunate. He walked two in a four-run first inning filled with bloops and broken bats.

"But they all count," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Ortiz enjoyed an excellent April, posting a 3-1 record and a 2.57 ERA in five starts that helped quell some early questions about Minnesota's rotation. The right-hander's last two appearances, however, have been more reminiscent of the easily rattled pitcher from the past two years.

Darin Erstad singled to start the game, and the White Sox batted around -- scoring on a double by Konerko, a bases-loaded walk by Uribe and a single by Ryan Sweeney that drove in two.

Gardenhire wasn't worried about Ortiz, though, and neither was Ortiz -- who flashed his familiar smiles throughout a brief interview.

"You make a pitch, they hit it. There's nothing you can do about that," he said.

A feeble bottom-of-the-inning response followed in the first from the Twins, who made Danks throw only seven pitches to induce a shallow flyout by Luis Castillo and infield popups by Nick Punto and Hunter.

That was a tone-setter for Danks, who forced Jeff Cirillo to bounce into double plays in the second and fifth innings. Danks, who came to Chicago in the five-player trade of prospects that sent pitcher Brandon McCarthy to Texas, was a mild surprise to be named the fifth starter out of spring training.

The left-hander has turned in a couple of decent performances so far this season but nothing close to dominant. Like the others in the rotation, though, he hadn't been getting much support.

"He could easily be 5-0 or at least 4-1 with the way he's pitched," Konerko said, adding: "We needed to score runs, no matter who was pitching tonight. We've been struggling to score runs. It was nice that those two things kind of collided."

Cirillo's single in the seventh ended the shutout, but MacDougal came in for the last out with two runners on base and the White Sox leading 6-1. Joe Crede's two-out single against Glen Perkins scooted under Castillo's glove to drive in a run in top of the inning.

"I have all the faith in the world in my bullpen," Danks said. "I believe they're the best bullpen in the big leagues."

Erstad doubled to center in the fifth and scored on Mackowiak's two-out single. The damage would have been much worse that inning, were it not for Hunter's amazing catch on the warning track of Uribe's bases-loaded drive.

With his back to the ball, Hunter tracked it down and snagged it Willie Mays-style before falling hard on his tailbone and rolling into the base of the wall. After a few seconds, he got up and jogged off.

"I've had some painful catches, but I never thought my butt would be hurting," Hunter said.

Game notes

Hunter's hitting streak is tied for the fourth-longest in team history with Cristian Guzman, Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett and Marty Cordova. Ken Landreaux, Brian Harper, Lenny Green are ahead of them, with Landreaux's 31-game streak leading the list. ... Uribe returned after a four-game absence to tend to his ailing mother. ... Ortiz gave up six hits, five runs and three walks with only one strikeout in six innings.