The worst kept secret is no more. John Danks won’t pitch again until spring 2013. Having been out since May, I didn’t think he’d be back this year. He hadn’t even made any rehab starts, and it’s now August. Only the supreme optimist thought Danks would all of a sudden heal up than ride in and pitch the Sox to a division title. I hope his surgery is minor, because when he’s on, he’s good.

Who would have thought that Jordan Danks would finish the season with the Sox, while his brother John would be on the shelf.

In one other move, the Sox sent Hector Santiago to Charlotte which was surprising, to me. With Chris Sale’s innings creeping higher and higher, and Jake Peavy also at risk, I thought a guy like Santiago would be invaluable. They want him to go down and start some games, so I guess he could be back soon.

I think we found out one thing over the past 3 days. The Twins stink. The Sox took 2 of 3 with the majority of their lineup not hitting. One guy who keeps cranking them out is A.J. Pierzynski.

Pierzynski hit 2 home runs against his former team, and now has 18, tying his career high. Pierzynski is on pace to have his best offensive year of his career. I guess his oblique injury has healed.

The same can’t be said for Alex Rios, but he could come close to matching his production in 2007 & 2010. His average right now at .315 is a career high. Rios went 6-13 over the 3 games. He may not have smacked any out or driven in any runs, but being on base consistently put pressure on the Twins all week.

The other offensive star for the Sox was Alejandro De Aza. De Aza, his wrist injury a thing of the past, went 7-13 with 3 RBI and 2 stolen bases.

Quiet guys, De Aza and Rios have done all their talking on the field.

And about Kevin Youkilis, Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Dayan Viciedo, Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham. Those group of guys combined to go 9-68 with 4 RBI. Like I said, the Twins stink.

If 6 guys in your lineup do that, and the opposing team can only win 1 game than they stink.

Jake Peavy’s inning keep going up, but he continues to mow teams down. He locked up the Twins on Wednesday, allowing 1 earned run in 8 innings, with 8 strike outs. Peavy doesn’t throw as hard as he once did, but his pitches have so much movement.

The Sox also got their first look at Francisco Liriano. He pitched good enough to win, but man he throws a lot of pitches. 113 in 6 innings, including 4 walks isn’t gonna get it done. I still think Don Cooper will correct the flaws in his delivery. Remember Chris Sale was throwing a ton of pitches early in the season, and now he isn’t. Watch the same happen to Liriano.

Is anyone concerned about Jose Quintana? Could he have hit the innings wall? He has pitched more innings this year than he has ever before.

Including his minor league stint this year, the lefty has tossed more than 132 innings, giving him over 30 more than his past career high. In 3 of his past 4 starts, Quintana has allowed 4 or more runs three times. He allowed that many runs just once in his prior 9 starts. Something to keep an eye on.

Matt Thornton ended July on a strong note. In 5.1 innings he gave up just one earned run, with one walk and 2 strike outs.

Sox now get a day off before facing the Angels over the weekend. The Halos are coming off a tough 4 game set at Texas, so they may be a bit tired. Time for the So to take advantage. Right now the Sox have a 2.5 game lead over the Tigers, and a 7 game lead over the fading Indians.