Quintana flirts with a no hitter, leads White Sox to victory over Red Sox
Jeff Keppinger, yes, Jeff Keppinger, supplied all the offense the White Sox would need in support of Jose Quintana (Mike DiNovo, USA TODAY Sports).
Jose Quintana no-hit the Red Sox through six and a third innings and led the White Sox to a 3-1 victory and series victory over Boston. David Ortiz broke up the no-hitter with a broken bat single to center field, which was actually followed by two more hits from Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava to load the bases and knock Quintana out of the game.
Jesse Crain inherited those three Boston base runners and promptly struck out Will Middlebrooks and Stephen Drew to escape the jam and end Quintana’s line without an earned run given up.
Jeff Keppinger supplied all of the offense the White Sox needed with a two-run, two-out home run in the bottom of the fifth inning off of Red Sox starter Felix Doubront. It was Keppinger’s first home run of the year.
Boston mounted a threat in the eighth inning, when Matt Thornton allowed a dreaded leadoff walk and a single. Matt Lindstrom came in and allowed a run to score, when Alexei Ramirez committed an error on a hard hit grounder by Dustin Pedroia. But with the tying run on third base and only one out, Lindstrom induced an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play off of the bat of David Ortiz.
The White Sox tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning and Addison Reed, amid a downpour of warm rain, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning 16th save of the year and second in as many days.
Up Next: The White Sox go for the sweep on Wednesday night at 7:10 when Hector Santiago, who is filling in for Chris Sale (who was scratched with a sore left shoulder) takes on Boston ace Clay Buchholz.