May 17, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers (21), starting pitcher Chris Sale (49) and pitching coach Don Cooper (99) walk from the bullpen before playing against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Before anything else, how about that Jose Quintana kid, huh?

Dylan Axelrod made a good Red Sox lineup look ordinary on Monday and Quintana went a step further to make them look inept at squaring pitches up through 6.1 innings of no-hit ball.

It might come off as a slight to the secondary pitches he’s been steadily working on and incorporating more, but Quintana’s success is a testament to how much can be done with elite fastball command. Nine of the 11 swings-and-misses Quintana induced Tuesday night were off his four-seam fastball, which he showed more ability to rush up in the mid-90′s, touching 95 mph in the late-May heat. He also pounded the zone, started 17 of 24 batters with a strike and established enough command to make the instances where he climbed the ladders with high heat that much more effective. It’s his set-up pitch and his put-away offering.

That said, it was probably more of a night of incredible locating for Quintana, rather than a new breakthrough in his ability level. But his progress is so steady that there’s no real point differentiating.

Chris Sale’s shoulder

Any Chris Sale injury is reason to hold family members desperately and weep in fear, but the White Sox are out ahead of the panic about tendinitis in the back of Sale’s pitching shoulder–minimizing its severity and insisting Sale will be ready for his next start after getting scratched for Wednesday’s game.

Ventura has termed the measure as “precautionary,” yes Sale admitted that the injury left him unable to complete his mid-week throwing program and the team doctor shut had to command him to sit out. The idea that Sale would ever ignore this condition and grit his way through a start in late-May seems like more of a product of his own reckless determination–which is welcome!–than something a baseball organization would actually knowingly approve.

It’s encouraging that there’s no declining performance or long-term concern associated with this injury yet, but placing absolute confidence that a lingering pain will be a non-issue after one turn through the rotation is a shade too trusting until we actually reach next week.

Naturally, sitting in the wake of all this concern over a more heralded pitcher and eagerly accepting the ball on short rest despite throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday is Hector Santiago. The difference in treatment is stark, and one that Santiago obviously realizes is necessary if he’s going to continue to grab opportunities.

John Danks

Santiago was originally scheduled to start Friday. His shifting makes the decision on when John Danks should make his return during the series opener against the Miami Marlins a seemingly foregone conclusion. The day off Thursday means the Sox could not promote Danks and still avoid pushing anyone into another short rest situation

Yet the open slot and the easy transition against a punchless, Giancarlo Stanton- free offense it offers is as close as it comes to an ideal setting for Danks’ return…

…save for perhaps a less adrenaline-soaked game on the road.

…or not till after Danks can post strong results in AAA, to ease concerns since he couldn’t post good results before the surgery and his struggles to post good results in spring training prompted this rehab assignment in the first place.

Beyond that, working through command and velocity troubles against the Marlins is the best choice.

If nothing else, the Sale missed start allows for the Sox to go through the starting rotation once more before making a call on who, if anyone, will get pushed aside to make more room for what John Danks can contribute to a ballclub.

Follow James Fegan on Twitter @JRFegan

 (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

The Angels saw the ball off of Chris Sale as well as you can see it now. “And the White Sox have their longest winning streak of the year….four!”  The famous quote from Rookie of the YEar (which had “two” instead of “four”) sounds a little better tonight, because Chris Sale dominated the Angels to extend the Sox’s already season-high winning streak to four games with a 3-0 victory.

Sale extended his personal scoreless streak to a whopping 23 innings by giving up only three hits and three walks over seven and two-thirds innings, tallying a season-high 12 strikeouts. 

Sale outdueled C.J. Wilson of the Angels (who for some reason, owns a car dealership in the Countryside area) and got just enough offensive support from Adam Dunn (who else?) and company to bring the Sox within two games of breaking even.

Alex Rios began the scoring for the Sox with a solo homer in the first inning.  Conor Gillespie hit a clutch two-out RBI single to score Dayan Viciedo in the 7^th inning.  Dunn added an insurance run in the ninth inning with a solo shot of his own, his third homer in as many days.

Addison Reed shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 14^th save in 15 chances.  Tonight’s shutout of the Halos brought the Sox team ERA to 3.49, good enough for second best in the American League.

On a side note, boy was it nice to hear Tom Paciorek in the booth with Hawk again.  Wimpy brought excitement and knows exactly when to talk to complement Hawk.

Up Next: Hector Santiago takes on Joe Blanton at 3:05 on Saturday on Fox.

*Shades of ‘James’ trip to St. Louis Beerfest 2012′ on White Sox Observer!

However, recaps certainly haven’t been much fun of recent. They’ve often been losses, which doesn’t help, but while every team has a way they typically go about losing games, the White Sox have established their type early and it’s an unpleasant one. Their offense provides a razor-thin margin of error for their run prevention crew, the pitching either fails to uphold the standard despite a competent effort, or is betrayed by grating defensive tomfoolery.

Few recaps differentiated from the larger slide of the team toward a difficult set of decisions, so in those terms, the White Sox needed this game. Chris Sale stretching a perfect game to the seventh inning, throwing the first shutout of his career and making it a one-hitter to boot–was easily the most superlative performance and exciting night of the season–something rousing to arrest a disquietingly quiet descent into the bottom of the division.

But it also comes in the wake of a team meeting hosted by Robin Ventura that was quickly followed by another sloppily-played loss on Saturday. Despite Paul Konerko, a veteran of struggle-inspired team meetings at this point in life, insisting that a lack of an immediate, inspired result was not an indictment of the meeting’s effect, an emphatic triumph on the back of Chris Sale washes away some concern Ventura’s pleas went ignored, or were above what his group was capable of fulfilling. The team needed a win to stop more inevitable conversations from happening immediately.

ESPN isn’t scheduled to cast its eyes upon the White Sox again this season and its unlikely that they’ll go out of their way to amend that. But while a good White Sox team usually seems unjustly denied of attention, this seemed like an awful time to shine a national spotlight on their state of affairs. Their league-worst offense is the fodder that damning statistical graphics are made for, their fielding errors–while overemphasized–make for particularly terrible television, especially during a showcase for the league. Sale didn’t just run interference on these issues, he commanded attention for the White Sox in a positive way that went past the results of the game. He even led some version of SportsCenter or ESPNews or whatever is on at the gym at 11 pm, an put those sleek 1983 uniforms on display for everyone.

Probably the least pressing concern that was addressed Sunday night was the actual work of Chris Sale. He dropped his ERA by over half a run to under 3.00 in one night. He’s a month removed from his nightmare in Cleveland and has had quality outings in his other seven starts, even if his most dominant form has been absent all season. It may still be absent, at least in terms of strikeouts (seven over nine innings), but Sunday was the strongest indication that everything is OK with the pitcher the Sox have tabbed as their ace since they inked his extension

Sale’s velocity was outstanding, easily sitting 93-95 and topping out at 96 mph. More importantly, he was throwing it by hitters for swinging strikes at those rates and his changeup was so dominant that it converted his slider into a luxury item. It goes without saying that May is too early in the season to say anything about Sale’s ability to hold up, but it looks fine and highly enjoyable right now. As much as the occasional rough patch and regression is deserved for Sale, the White Sox certainly don’t have anything else working strong enough to endure such a period.

There were certainly troubling elements remaining. Removing the highest-paid hitter from the lineup is not something you want to have to do to jump-start the offense, Jeff Keppinger put his entire physical force into a ball and it resulted in a looping 285-foot ball to left field and a thoroughly out of sorts C.J. Wilson was dueling Sale to a draw for most of the night, but a fully-working ace enabled the Sox to put their best face on for the rest of the world.

It doesn’t change anything about the White Sox reality. The offense remains in a state that makes previous years where the run support for Jake Peavy and John Danks was maligned seem like the salad days, but Sale makes team legitimacy appear closer than it might really be.

Follow James Fegan on Twitter @JRFegan