Quintana Gives Up Runs, Proves Luck Still Intact
If I were to tell you that Jose Quintana get knocked around for 4 runs in the 1st inning, and a pair more in the 4th, you’d be pretty sure he dropped his horseshoe somewhere between Chicago and New York, right? Well not exactly. Quintana gave up some clustered hits and let up a long ball to Curtis Granderson, but managed to hang in and still get himself a win. Seems he’s still a lucky guy.
White Sox (42-35): 14
Yankees (46-30): 7
The White Sox continued the momentum built in the 9th inning of Thursday night’s game and pushed across 14 runs Friday. They did have the benefit of facing Adam Warren in his major league debut. Sox fans know the deal, though. It’s not often that they face a pitcher throwing the for the first time in the big leagues without him coming off of that mound looking and feeling like Cy Young. The hit party included 4 White Sox homeruns, including 2 from A.J. Pierzynski (13, 14), a solo shot from Paul Konerko (14) and Alexei’s second of the year. His homerless streak is ova! Every spot in the lineup but the 2 hole contributed with hits. Kevin Youkilis and Eduardo Escobar combine to make up that spot in the lineup as Youk must have had quite the day prior to heading to the park, he exited the game mid-way through with an upset stomach. The hit attack was so strong the whole pen threw in the towel. The Yankees had to bring Dewayne Wise in to pitch. He retired the only two batters he faced, getting the final two outs of the 9th.
By the time Quintana saw his streak of consecutive batters without issuing a walk come to an end at 100 in the 1st inning he was already down 2-0. His control wasn’t as pinpoint as it’s been, he would allow 2 more walks on the night, but he stood strong despite his shakiness. In his first 3 un-scored upon innings he would face the minimum with the help of a pickoff and from A.J.’s arm of all things. Robin finally felt it appropriate to leave Quintana in long enough to amass a big boy pitch count, he pitched a full 6 innings throwing a 101 pitches.
Plus: White Sox pitching. Sounds strange on a night where 7 runs were allowed but Quintana really settled in after getting hit hard early and the bullpen was able to finish it off, allowing just one run to cross. Rounding out that bullpen finish was Leyson Septimo. He presented a perfect 9th inning for to seal the game in his big league debut.
Minus: After talking down the runs that were allowed, what can I offer up as a negative? Mental errors have to go. Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham had a miscommunication issue that may or may not have allowed a run to score. Most nights, if you give the Yankees lineup extra outs, they’re going to turn them into runs.