July 20, 2010
SEATTLE, WA-- Former ODU pitching standout Dan Hudson ('08) pitched the ChicagoWhite Sox to a 6-1 win Monday night over Seattle at Safeco Field.
Hudson pitched 6.2 innings allowing one run with four walks and six strikeouts toup his record at 1-0 on the season.
That bounce-back win snapped the White Sox three-game second-half losing streak and raised their record to 2-3 on this 10-game road trip. With Minnesota's loss to the second-half juggernaut from Cleveland and Detroit's extra-inning setback against Texas, the South Siders now hold their biggest American League Central lead of the season at 2 1/2 games.
"We didn't falter or change anything," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who finished 1-for-4 in the victory. "We didn't say, 'Oh, my gosh. We have to win this next game.' Our guys were the same in here."
"Your attitude is take it one day at a time," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "That's my philosophy, our philosophy, about no matter what happened yesterday, it doesn't mean anything the next day."
As Pierzynski pointed out after the club's fourth straight win over Seattle (36-57) this season, a team's momentum only stands as strong as its next starting pitcher. So, Daniel Hudson (1-0) made it easy for the White Sox (51-41) to get back on track.
Hudson's pace was less frenetic compared to his first start this season against the Royals on the last day before the All-Star break. He gave up a run in the first inning on Russell Branyan's double but then settled down to allow only five hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking four.
"I just worry about what I have, not what I don't have," Guillen said. "That's what I have right now. So, I need to take the best out of him, give him enough confidence to go out there and pitch. The only thing I don't want to do is have him thinking every day, every time he goes out there to the mound that he will be sent down the next day."
"My focus is just to go out and do my job," said Hudson, who threw 63 of his 99 pitches for strikes. "I can't think about how many more starts this gives me. As long as I can give the team quality starts, these guys will score runs in a hurry any time."
A milestone home run provided Hudson (1-0) all the runs he needed in the Pacific Northwest. Alex Rios' 16th home run of the season, coming with one out in the fifth off David Pauley (0-2), gave the White Sox a 3-1 advantage and stood as career long ball No. 100 for the multi-talented center fielder.
Andruw Jones added his 13th home run in the eighth inning, but it was Rios who pushed the White Sox offense in the victorious direction.
Hudson is was 11-4 with the White Sox AAA affiliate Charlotte Knights before getting the call on July 10. He compiled a 3.47 earned run average with 108 strikeouts in 93.1 innings of work. Opponent hitters were only batting .228 against the two-time All-CAA pitcher. Dan was 20-14 at ODU with a 3.79 ERA and rankedthird all-time at ODU in career strikeouts with 295, behind two other ODU Major Leaguers,Justin Verlander with 427 ('04) and Kevin Bearse with 329('87).
The 2006 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American led Princes Anne High school to the 2005 Virginia AAA State Championship.
In 2009 Hudson made six appearances and two starts for Chicago with a 1-1 record and a 3.38 ERA. Hudson was MLB.com Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year last year as he was 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA.