Jose Quintana back to form in Chicago White Sox win
Just like Jeff Samardzija in his second start, Chicago White Sox No. 3 starter Jose Quintana pitched much better in his second appearance of the season on Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians.
The White Sox won the game 4-1, their third consecutive win, but for Quintana, he pitched better than his no-decision against the Kansas City Royals earlier this month.
In the six innings he pitched at Progressive Field in Cleveland, the lefty Quintana allowed one unearned run on three hits and two walks, while along the way striking out six.
Of his 104 pitches, 60 went for strikes Tuesday, and with all the aforementioned stats he lowered his season ERA (two starts) to 4.09.
His first start of the season on April 8 at Kauffman Stadium, Quintana allowed five earned runs on nine hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Quintana also managed to hit zero batters in his second start of the season, another improvement compared to the two Kansas City batters he hit in his season-opening start.
The Quintana we watched against the Indians is the player we expect to see most of the time this 2015 season.
Jordan Bastian and August Fagerstrom of MLB.com wrote about Quintana in a game article following the White Sox win against the AL Central foe:
"“Holding an Indians lineup that has struggled against left-handed pitching to one unearned run over six innings of work. The only run Quintana allowed came after a passed ball.”"
It was evident from the start Quintana was going to have a professional outing on Tuesday, as he struck out Michael Bourn on a called third strike to start the Indians’ half of the first. From there, he retired the Indians in order as the Tribe hit into a double play off the bat of Jason Kipnis.
Apr 14, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) pitches against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
After facing three batters in the first, Quintana faced four batters in the second. After issuing a walk to Carlos Santana, he retired the next three batters with a fly out, a swinging strikeout and for the second time in two innings struck out a batter on a called third strike.
Quintana’s command was on point in not only for most of the first two innings, but in the fifth he faced just three batters for the second time in the game. He equaled that feat for a third time in the sixth.
In the fourth and seventh innings, Quintana faced a total of 10 batters, allowing just one unearned run on a passed ball in the fourth. Those two innings saw the Indians leave a total of three batters on the bases.
It was good to see Quintana back to the form he had last season with the White Sox. With one good outing under his belt, it should be expected we’ll see more of these types of outings from the left-handed starter rather than the one we saw in the second game of the season.
The next start for Quintana will most likely be on April 20 vs. the same Cleveland Indians, but this time at U.S. Cellular Field. The start could also be on April 19 at the Detroit Tigers since the White Sox do have an off day this Thursday.
Next: White Sox MiLB Report: Carlos Sanchez gains 2 hits