1. Danks kept the ball around the plate for most of his five innings of work, finishing with six strikeouts and just one walk. But unfortunately, he also left the ball up throughout and was pounded for eight hits and five earned runs. It was the kind of Danks performance you’ve come to expect, as he needs basically everything to break right for him to be effective, and it didn’t turn out that way. The first and second innings dug the White Sox into a hole their moribund offense was unable to get out of.

2. The two unearned runs came on a strange play in the first inning when, with the bases loaded, Carlos Santana tapped the ball in front of home plate. Alex Avila fielded the ball and, after looking back and realizing he had no shot at retiring the runner at the plate, rifled the ball right in Santana’s running path and past Jose Abreu for an error, allowing two runs to cross the plate. Had he stayed home, Danks likely had enough time to flip him the ball for the force at home, or at worst a non-hesitation gives him an easy out at first base with the plodding Santana running to first.

3. The White Sox seemed in good position to take advantage of a wild Danny Salazar, and were at least somewhat patient early on with four base on balls. But walks only pay off if the guys behind them can make it hurt and, aside from Todd Frazier‘s solo shot in the fourth, the White Sox bats were cold. Things like Avisail Garcia getting picked off of first base WITH A RUNNER IN FRONT OF HIM ON SECOND BASE didn’t exactly help matters, either. The season is young, but Garcia’s major league career continues to get old really, really fast.

4. Frazier’s second home run came on an 0-2 pitch when Salazar grooved his third straight mid-90s fastball in the zone and Frazier took advantage of it. Both of Frazier’s homers this season have come on 0-2 counts.

5. Lt. Dan Jennings made his season debut in what appears to be his role in this bullpen: mop-up duty. But mop-up, he did, as he went three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three. Perhaps more important was the fact that, in what was a mostly lost cause, he gave the good relievers another day of rest.

Record: 3-2
Up next: Chris Sale Day! The White Sox will play Game 2 of their home-opening series against Cleveland at 1:10 p.m. CT Saturday in Chicago on WGN and WLS radio. Chris Sale vs. Cody Anderson.

Top photo credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

A home opener, should your team not have hosted their true opening day, can provide a feeling of new opportunity. Team’s slow start remove the residue of opening day hope you had that the season wouldn’t be a complete disappointment? Home Openers: A New Hope. The White Sox 3-1 record means nobody wants a mulligan. It’s not necessary. Everybody is still feeling shiny and new because hope still exists. They are strolling into US Cellular Field with confidence. As victors. As solvers of problems disguised as baseball players wearing uniforms different from their own. And judging by the forecast, they themselves should be wearing different, heavier uniforms. What happens when a hot Sox team comes to a cold Chicago? I guess we’ll find out.

“What have you done for me lately?” is not a question that is asked when deciding who gets the starting pitching nod for a home opener. John Danks has done plenty for this baseball team over the years, and to say that he’s done nothing over the past couple would be unfair, but he lacks the marquee strength a fan might desire to headline what is typically the most attended game of the season. Considering Danks’ 2012 shoulder surgery, what he does do is quite remarkable, and not generally as appreciated as it could be. He exists in the game of baseball. He has taken an injury that often sends pitchers home to contemplate their next steps in life, and parlayed it into years of a performance just good enough to allow him to stay. Stepping out on to the mound today, John Danks will only be 30-years old. He hasn’t had a better-than-average cFIP since 2011 and PECOTA thinks he’s going to struggle to be a replacement level player this season. But John Danks is still something of a success story, and his fifth starter stuff will be on display as the Sox look for their first home win.

Danny Salazar is most certainly not the same pitcher as John Danks. He slots into the middle of a very strong Cleveland rotation and is coming off a year that saw him throw a career high 185 innings, during which he struck out over 25 percent of the batters he faced. He is, like Danks, a bit prone to the long ball, although perhaps both starters will benefit from frigid temperatures in that respect. After yesterday’s bullpen-victimizing offensive onslaught, it would be encouraging to see some fireworks set off with a starting pitcher still in the game.

Adam Eaton has collected two or more hits in each of the first four games this season. He’s the first White Sox player to start the team’s season in that fashion since Nellie Fox in 1955. A tall ask, but a pair of hits today would give him the honor of being the only Sox player to start the season with 5 such games.

White Sox Lineup:

1. Adam Eaton – RF
2. Jimmy Rollins – SS
3. Jose Abreu – 1B
4. Todd Frazier – 3B
5. Melky Cabrera – LF
6. Avisail Garcia – DH
7. Brett Lawrie – 2B
8. Alex Avila – C
9. Austin Jackson – CF

Indians Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis – CF
2. Jason Kipnis – 2B
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Mike Napoli – 1B
5. Carlos Santana – DH
6. Yan Gomes – C
7. Marlon Byrd – RF
8. Juan Uribe – 3B
9. Jose Ramirez – LF

A decidedly aged lineup is being sent out in support of the Tribe’s young right-hander. In particular, Rajai Davis, Marlon Byrd, and old friend Juan Uribe are all in the 35 and over club.

Lead Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports