White Sox topple Tribe; Bucs play spoiler again

Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Gordon Beckham drove in three runs to help John Danks earn his first win in more than a month and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 6-1 on Monday night.

Danks’ first career complete game gave Chicago its third win in four games following a stretch of seven losses in eight games.

Cleveland came in one-half game ahead of last-place Kansas City in the AL Central after sweeping a three-game series from Baltimore. The Indians, trying to avoid a last-place finish for the first time since going a franchise-worst 57-101 in 1991, are 6-20 in September. A year ago, they went 32-17 down the stretch to finish at .500 — giving hope to Cleveland fans that the Indians could return to contention after winning the division in 2007.

Danks (13-10) allowed three hits and one run, striking out seven in his first complete game at any level since being drafted in 2003 by Texas. Shin-Soo Choo hit his 19th homer leading off the seventh to break up the left-hander’s bid for his first career shutout.

The White Sox took a 3-0 lead in the second against Aaron Laffey (7-8) without hitting the ball hard. They loaded the bases on three consecutive one-out singles — then scored three times without hitting a ball out of the infield.

Laffey lost his fifth straight start, allowing three runs and eight hits over 71‚Ñ3 innings. Cleveland has totaled 12 runs of support during the five losses. The left-hander is 0-5 in seven starts since beating Minnesota on Aug. 16.

Pirates 11, Dodgers 1

PITTSBURGH — This couldn’t-get-any-easier clinching is becoming very hard for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ll be playing one of the NL’s best clubs in another week, yet they suddenly can’t beat the league’s worst.

Former Dodgers prospect Andy LaRoche homered twice, doubled twice and singled, driving in six runs as the last-place Pirates again prevented Los Angeles from winning the NL West.

Zach Duke pitched shutout ball into the ninth inning against a patchwork Dodgers lineup, with manager John Russell drawing loud boos for pulling him one out away from a complete game. LaRoche set a career high for hits and RBIs in going 5 for 5 and scoring four runs.

Already assured of a playoff spot, the Dodgers lost three of four to the Pirates, who had dropped 23 of 26 going into the series — the franchise’s worst stretch in 119 seasons. The Dodgers went 3-4 on a road trip against the majors’ two worst teams, the Nationals and Pirates.

“It’s always dangerous when you play those teams. I hate to say you should beat somebody, but the record tells you should beat them,” manager Joe Torre said. “These are the types of teams you’re not comfortable [playing].”

Uh, oh: The Dodgers get another such team today in the Padres, who trail them by 21 games.