Carl Pavano pitches three-hitter for first shutout since 2005, a 6-0 win over White Sox

Pavano pitches three-hitter in win over White Sox

CHICAGO — After a disastrous four-year stint with the New York Yankees and undergoing Tommy John surgery, many people had written off Carl Pavano.

The right-hander pitched a three-hitter for his fifth career shutout and Mark DeRosa hit a three-run homer, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Pavano (6-4) handled the White Sox lineup with relative ease in his first shutout since May 17, 2005, for the Yankees. He faced four batters over the minimum and continued his resurgence since leaving New York.

Pavano signed a four-year $39.95 million deal with the Yankees after going 18-8 with 3.00 ERA for the Marlins in 2004, but he had Tommy John surgery in 2007 that limited his effectiveness with New York.

Pavano, 9-8 with the Yankees over four years, is finally getting used to pitching after the surgery.

“I think it’s getting there. I had a couple starts where I was really strong,” Pavano said. “Today I didn’t have the best fastball but I was able to locate it and I had pretty good movement. It’s tough. I was 27 or 28 and I’m five years older. I learned from all the success I had in the past. You take it all into account and try to be consistent. I feel good but I always feel there is room for improvement.”

After giving up a leadoff double in the first inning to Scott Podsednik, he retired the next three hitters and stranded Podsednik at third.

Pavano is 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA after going 0-3 with a 9.50 ERA in April.

“I definitely felt strong at the end. With the lead I had, I was able to pound the strike zone and stay ahead of those guys and get some quick outs,” he said.

Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko added back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning for the Indians.

The White Sox have lost four in a row since a season-high four-game winning streak and have been shut out a major league-worst nine times. Chicago has not scored in 23 1-3 consecutive innings and has been blanked three of its last four games.

“Besides not hitting, we’re not doing the little things either,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “People are going to be struggling at the plate, but we got a man on third base and no outs and we can’t get him in. We swing at back-to-back changeups in the dirt, it’s just a lot of bad things happening right now. A lot of bad ugly things, embarrassing things happening now.”

White Sox starter John Danks (4-4) lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. Danks is 1-5 with a 5.63 ERA in nine career starts against the Indians.

At Detroit, Juan Rivera’s ninth-inning single broke a scoreless tie, saving a stellar outing for Ervin Santana.

Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales started the ninth with singles off Fernando Rodney (0-1), and Rivera poked a single through the drawn-in infield for the game’s first run. After Erick Aybar’s sacrifice bunt, Howie Kendrick’s groundout made it 2-0.

Magglio Ordonez hit an RBI single in the ninth, but Angels closer Brian Fuentes replaced Santana and got Curtis Granderson to hit a foul pop behind third that Chone Figgins caught before tumbling into the stands. It was Fuentes’ 15th save in 18 tries.

Santana (1-2) picked up his first win since Sept. 22.

Kevin Millwood held Boston scoreless for seven innings, Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer and the Rangers ended an eight-game losing streak at Fenway Park.

The loss snapped Boston’s four-game winning streak and dropped its home mark to 17-7, second in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Millwood (5-4), winless in four of his last five starts, shut out the Red Sox until David Ortiz’s RBI single in the eighth.

The Rangers chased starter Brad Penny (5-2) in the sixth.

Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay hit solo homers and host Toronto gave Zack Greinke a rare pounding in handing the Royals their eighth straight loss.

Rod Barajas added a two-run shot, helping boost Greinke’s ERA from 1.10 to 1.55.

Seeking to join Toronto’s Roy Halladay as the only nine-game winners in baseball, Greinke (8-2) was instead tagged for a season high seven runs — five earned — and nine hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Ricky Romero (3-2) earned the win for the Blue Jays.

At Oakland, Calif., Jack Cust and Matt Holiday each hit three-run homers, Dallas Braden matched his career high of seven strikeouts and the Athletics extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.

Cust hit a three-run home run off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (4-5) as part of a six-run first inning when Oakland had seven hits and batted around.

Braden (5-5) scattered five hits and allowed one run over five innings.

At Seattle, the Twins ended Ichiro Suzuki’s hitting streak at 27 games, and took advantage of two miscues by Mariners left fielder Wladimir Balentien in the 10th inning.

Francisco Liriano pitched six strong innings to perhaps save his place in the rotation and help the Twins win for the fourth time in five games. Matt Gurrier (2-0) allowed one hit in 1 2-3 innings, and Nathan finished for his 11th save in 13 chances.

Mark Lowe (0-3) was the loser.