Danks in early groove

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – One pitch, one swing and Mark DeRosa showed the kind of threat he can be for San Francisco’s offense.

DeRosa lined a sharp single over shortstop Omar Vizquel’s head in his debut at-bat after being limited after October wrist surgery, and the Giants beat the White Sox, 6-2, on Tuesday.

“He came out of the chute with a base hit,” said manager Bruce Bochy of the former Cubs utilityman. “I know he had to be excited to be out there, even though it’s spring training.”

Sox starting pitcher John Danks is off to a strong start himself. He struck out four in three scoreless innings and hasn’t allowed a run in his five spring innings.

“I was glad the sun came out,” Danks said. “It was fun to get out there and have another good outing. Really, just throw strikes, make them hit the ball, and I’ll go from there.”

Manager Ozzie Guillen was impressed with Danks’ command, pointing out that the left-hander threw a 3-2 changeup, a feel pitch most guys still are trying to find this early in spring training.

“I’m very glad about the way we’re throwing the ball right now, especially John,” Guillen said. “I was kind of worried about him last year. He had some problems with the cold weather, but now, the weather was pretty cold and he handled it real well. That’s all we’re looking for right now.”

This game had plenty of other entertaining elements: Vizquel starting against his former team, only a few hours after the Giants were visited by former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. And San Francisco infielder Juan Uribe, formerly of the Sox, received a warm welcome when he popped into the visitor’s clubhouse during a rain delay to see his old team.

Mark Kotsay had two hits and drove in a run for the Sox.