White Sox beat Indians 8-1, slow Cleveland's title chase
CLEVELAND (AP) - There isn't much left for the White Sox to accomplish in a season that fizzled long ago.
On Saturday night, though, they delayed Cleveland's party plans.
Jose Quintana pitched out of some early jams and Melky Cabrera drove in two runs as Chicago snapped a six-game losing streak with an 8-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, who missed a chance to lower their number for winning the AL Central to one.
Cabrera and Jose Abreu hit RBI singles in the first off Cody Anderson (2-5), and Todd Frazier connected for his 39th homer in the sixth to lead the White Sox, who opened the season 23-10 but have gone just 50-71 since.
"We know where we're at, but there's still guys going out there that have a lot of pride," manager Robin Ventura said. "We're playing a very good team. You have some things to play for. They're going out there and doing it in a very professional way."
Quintana (13-11) gave up one run in six innings and beat Cleveland for the second time in 11 days. He was in trouble in the first two innings as the Indians twice loaded the bases off him, but the left-hander gave up just one run and gained confidence as the game wore on.
"When you look at the score at the end, it's a blowout game," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "But we had some really good chances early and didn't do much with it, and with a good pitcher like Quintana, he found himself. We had his pitch count up a lot early but we managed one (run)."
The Indians committed three errors, threw two wild pitches and had a passed ball as their first Central championship since 2007 stayed just out of reach.
Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the first, but Quintana got Carlos Santana to hit into an inning-ending double play. The Indians had the bases full again in the second and appeared ready for a huge inning after Rajai Davis hit a one-out RBI single to right. But Coco Crisp got caught in a rundown for the second out and Quintana got Jason Kipnis to ground out.
"It was rough," Ventura said of Quintana's first two innings. "Locating-wise was probably the biggest thing. You really didn't see him like that too often. He gritted through it. He has a lot of heart in him to keep battling like that."
Quintana has already set a career-high for wins and he'll finish with a winning record for the first time in three seasons. He'd trade it all to play in October.
"I don't like to talk about stats," said Quintana, who went over 200 innings for the fourth straight year. "The goal here is to make the playoffs. We can't this year. We'll try to get a good rest and come next year."
TOUGH NIGHT
White Sox catcher Alex Avila struck out all five times he came to the plate.
OUT GOES FRAZIER
Frazier's 39 homers are the most for a Chicago player since Adam Dunn hit 41 in 2012. Frazier has already hit the most homers by a third baseman in franchise history.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: CF Adam Eaton will miss at least Chicago's next two games after he scarily crashed into the padded outfield wall Friday night. Eaton was shaken after hauling in Roberto Perez's drive. He stayed on the ground for several minutes and had to be helped to the dugout.
"If anybody's ever been in a car accident it's kind of the same thing," said Eaton, who passed concussion tests. "You're kind of taking inventory of the body parts and making sure everything is back to where it's supposed to be."
UP NEXT
White Sox: Carlos Rondon starts the club's final road game of 2016. He's 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in his past two starts.
Indians: Josh Tomlin's role in the postseason remains unclear. He could help himself with an outing similar to his last start, when he allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings.