White Sox pick up Quintana, rally to beat Tigers
Jose Quintana is the major-league king when it comes to poor run support, and the Chicago White Sox left-hander is also a part of baseball's royal court when it comes to no decisions.
Quintana didn't factor in the outcome Wednesday afternoon, when the Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 at U.S. Cellular Field.
This time, Quintana was fine with his fate - not that's he ever complained in the past.
Quintana put the White Sox in an early hole when he served up a 3-run homer to Justin Upton in the second inning.
And after the Sox tied the game at 3 with a pair of runs in the third, Quintana appeared to be headed for a loss when the Tigers went ahead with the run in the seventh inning.
But with Quintana out of the game, the White Sox scored 4 runs in the eighth and beat Detroit for the second straight day.
"I tried to keep fighting all game," Quintana said. "It's tough to win when I gave up the homer (to Upton), but I tried to keep the score close and everybody did a great job today to come back.
"It wasn't my best day but I tried to keep fighting and we won. That's most important."
Quintana pitched 6⅔ innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks.
"For Q, I think your heart goes into it a little bit more just because of the kind of path he's been on and the history of it," manager Robin Ventura said. "Offensively, it feels good for the guys to come through and at least he doesn't get a loss out of that. It's a well pitched game by him, they got him there in the seventh, but it's a well pitched game by him."
Tough business:
When the season ends, the White Sox are going to announce the status of manager Robin Ventura and the coaching staff.
Considering the Sox are heading for their fourth straight losing season, changes are expected to be made.
"They understand that," Ventura said of his coaches. "You sit and talk about things and that's just part of the business that we're in. It's not going to change any of the professionalism or the work that anyone is doing. We'll have to wait and see."
Baseball can be a brutal business, but Ventura said the sport is not that much different than most professions.
"I don't think we're unique in any way," Ventura said. "Ours is a little more public than most of them and that's part of the job and you understand it and just deal with it. It doesn't change what we're doing the rest of the way out."