CHICAGO -- It was a little less than one year ago, April 24 to be exact, that the White Sox last beat the Cleveland Indians.
On Thursday night at U.S. Cellular Field, just hours after learning that right fielder Avisail Garcia was lost for the season due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder, Chicago ended a 14-game losing streak against its American League Central rival with a 7-3 victory in the first 2014 meeting between the two.
That outcome didn't look entirely possible early on, as the Indians pushed across two runs in the first inning against John Danks and had Danny Salazar on the mound. Salazar struck out 10 White Sox on Thursday, giving him 27 punchouts lifetime against the club in just 12 2/3 innings.
 
Abreu hits 2 more HRs, White Sox beat Indians 7-3
 
But even with those 10 strikeouts, Salazar didn't make it through the fourth. When the White Sox made contact, they made it count over Salazar's 3 2/3 innings, as he became the first pitcher to strike out 10 in an outing fewer than four innings in the modern era, per The Elias Sports Bureau.
Jose Abreu launched a solo homer in the second and again in the fifth, giving him four for the season and two multihomer efforts in his last three games. The White Sox didn't have Abreu last year in their battles with the Indians, and they didn't have this current offense with the potential to come back from any deficit.
Alexei Ramirez homered in the third and doubled home two runs in the fourth, giving him hits in all 10 games this season. This support was enough for Danks, who settled down and allowed three runs on six hits over six innings, while striking out four and walking two. Danks threw 62 of his 99 pitches for strikes before giving way to Daniel Webb and his two scoreless innings of relief. Matt Lindstrom added a scoreless ninth.
Scott Merkin / MLB.com
 

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