Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - John Danks pitched into the eighth inning to pick up his first win of the year, outdueling rookie Michael Pineda in the Chicago White Soxs 3-1 decision over the Seattle Mariners. Kenley Jansen Dodgers Jersey . Danks (1-8) lost his first eight decisions in the worst opening to a season by a White Sox starter since 1942. The lefty looked like his 15-game winning self of a year ago, allowing just one unearned run on seven hits with striking out six and walking just one in 7 1/3 innings. Id be lying if I told you it hadnt been tough ... I had been wondering when it would turn around, Danks admitted. Paul Konerko hit a solo homer, while A.J. Pierzynski went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Chicago, which dropped two straight to Detroit over the weekend. Pineda (6-3) was effective despite taking the loss, allowing two runs on five hits in seven frames for the Mariners, who came into the three-game series on a 14-4 stretch. Brendan Ryan, who had a possible run-scoring hit robbed by a diving Brent Lillibridge in left-center in the third inning and struck out with runners on the corners in the fifth, atoned for the missed opportunities by singling home Greg Halman for Seattles only run in the eighth. [Danks] kept us off balance, Ryan said. We still have to make something happen. You tip your hat, but we still have to look at ourselves. Jesse Crain relieved Danks after Ryans hit and maintained the 2-1 lead, and Pierzynski got the run back in the bottom half. His opposite-field single off David Pauley brought in Alex Rios, who pinch-ran for Carlos Quentin following his two-out double. Sergio Santos took over in the ninth and threw a 1-2-3 frame to post his 11th save of the season. Konerko got just enough of Pinedas hanging slider leading off the fourth inning to send it into the first row of seats in left field. Chicago went ahead 2-0 in the seventh, as Pierzynski hit a ground-rule double leading off and scored on Gordon Beckhams two-out base hit up the middle. GAME NOTES:Chicagos Eddie Smith opened the 1942 campaign by losing his first 10 decisions...Danks was 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his previous five starts against Seattle...Pineda has 10 quality starts in 12 outings this year...Seattle has lost nine straight in Chicago. Yasiel Puig Jersey . -- Philippe Cadorette made 22 saves as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar shut out the Victoriaville Tigres 3-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action Monday. Sandy Koufax Dodgers Jersey . Froch retained his WBA and IBF titles with a ninth-round stoppage against Groves in Manchester on Nov. 23. Groves launched an appeal, saying referee Howard Foster stopped the fight prematurely, and the IBF then ordered a rematch.Despite a stunning late-season collapse that cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a playoff spot, general manager Dave Nonis believes Randy Carlyle is still the right man to lead the club. The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. "It was important for us to make it clear that Randy has the support needed to move forward," Nonis said on a conference call. "He has done a lot of good things for us and we expect him to continue that with some new assistants." There had been rampant speculation that Carlyle would pay with his job after a disastrous end to the most recent campaign saw Toronto tumble out of post-season contention thanks to an embarrassing 2-12-0 finish. Instead, Nonis and new Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan gassed Carlyles staff in hopes that some new voices can help the 58-year-old get the most out of Torontos underachieving roster. "If youve seen it being done before with most of the same players, or a lot of the same players, and with that coach leading that group, I know it can happen," said Nonis. "I know it has happened with this group before. I know that (Carlyle) has reached them before, reached them at times this year. "For me its not that were guessing whether or not he can have success or he can get through to them. Weve seen it. I know that its there and we feel he is the guy that can get through to this group." Carlyle -- who led the Maple Leafs to their first playoff appearance since 2004 in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season -- had Toronto sitting second in the Atlantic Division this year before the wheels fell off in mid-March. "We feel that this group can continue to grow into a higher level of a hockey club," said Carlyle. "We just have to find and continue to push for a little bit more from the individuals and we are going to do everything we possibly can to change some of the things that are happening with our group." Despite calls from fans and media alike in Toronto for Carlyles dismissal, Nonis said he wasnt swayed by how the decision might play in the hockey-mad city. "If youre worried about optics in this market, its going to be a disaster," said Nonis. "I think you have to make a decision based on what you think is the best decision for the organization, and this in our minds was clearly the best option. "He was a guy we believe can get the job done for us. Whether optics are that its the wrong thing to do or not doesnt really matter to us. If youre looking at trying to please people, youre probably going to make some poor decisions." The Maple Leafs started the 2013-14 season on a 10-4-0 run, but Carlyle worried at the time that his team was getting away with sloppy play in the defensive zone. Going into and coming out of the Olympic break, the Leafs were rolling despitte being badly outshot on most nights. Dee Gordon Jersey. When they beat the Kings in Los Angeles on March 13, they were in second place in the division. But starting goaltender Jonathan Bernier aggravated a groin injury that night, and though it was not considered serious at the time it proved to be devastating. James Reimer lost five straight and was pulled March 23 against the New Jersey Devils before Bernier returned and lost three more. The final night of that losing streak, March 29 against the Detroit Red Wings, was effectively the death knell for Torontos playoff hopes. "This hockey club has proven at times to be able to compete to a higher level," said Carlyle. "The consistency of our compete in our defensive zone coverage was the area of concern right from the opening month of the season. We harped on it, harped on it, harped on it, yet we were winning with it." Nonis made it clear that it was managements decision to clean out the assistant coaches. Carlyle had worked with Farrish since their days with the Anaheim Ducks, winning a Stanley Cup together in 2007. "Its a tough day and those are tough ones," said Carlyle, who also played junior hockey with Farrish. "The game of hockey is a great game, but the business side of hockey is an awful one. This is an awful day in our life, for our relationship between Dave Farrish and myself." Nonis said that Carlyle would be consulted on the new assistant coaches, but added the decisions will be a collaborative effort. Carlyle led Toronto to the playoffs last spring, but that run ended in disaster when the Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals after blowing a three-goal, third-period lead in Game 7. "I think that we showed for periods as a group last year and the year before that what the team is capable of it -- that we have the ability to compete with top teams," said Nonis. "Why we got away from that at times, I think thats something were going to focus on over the course of the summer to put some answers there." Carlyle replaced the fired Ron Wilson in March of 2012, months after the Leafs previous coach signed a new contract extension. He went 6-9-3 to finish out that season and then 26-17-5 in 2013 season. In parts of three seasons with Toronto, the Sudbury, Ont., native has a combined record of 70-62-16. Nonis said its easy to blame a coaching staff and management when things go south, but added that the players also have to take a lot of the responsibility for a season that went off the rails so dramatically. "Our players have to be committed to do the things we did the year before that made us successful. The blame has to be spread around all of us," he said. "I think that were going to come back in the fall and the players are going to know that this coaching staff is committed to doing the things that we need done to be successful and they are going to have to perform." wholesale nfl jerseys ' ' '
