Yes, Quentin excited about big day at plate ... really

CLEVELAND — On the inside, maybe he was bubbling.

“I’m ecstatic,” right fielder Carlos Quentin said. “We won. It’s a great day for the Chicago White Sox.”

On the outside, Quentin was his typical picture of reserve. If he continues going 3-for-4 with a home run and 5 RBI like he did in Friday’s season-opening 15-10 win over the Indians, who really cares?

Batting sixth, Quentin reached out and connected on a 2-2 pitch from Fausto Carmona for an RBI single in the first inning.

Quentin added a 2-run homer in the third and a 2-run double in the fourth to complete his big day.

The Sox no longer seem interested in trying to get Quentin to lighten up and enjoy the game more. Production is the only thing that matters, and he’s off to a great start.

“The big thing with this day was trying to focus on just mentally telling myself it’s just another day of playing baseball,” Quentin said. “I didn’t want to do anything different than what I was doing in spring training. And it took a couple pitches that balls stopped moving on me.

“I knew that probably would happen with some opening-day jitters. I was happy with the first at-bat to get us the second run and we got on a roll. That was good, good to get a win.”

One and Dunn:

It was his first game in a White Sox uniform, and his first as an American League designated hitter.

Without a doubt, Adam Dunn is off to a good start with his new team.

“That’s what I set out all off-season and spring training to do; to be ready for today,” Dunn said. “I don’t care how I look in March or in January or February. Just be ready for today. I feel like I’m ready for the season.”

Dunn struck out in the first inning, but he hit a 2-run homer in the third and added a 2-run double in the fourth.

“I think it’s good for him,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “Coming to a new team with a lot of expectations, all the people in Chicago expect him to do well. It takes the monkey off of his back. When you start that way, you create confidence in yourself.”

Uneven start:

Making his ninth opening-day start, Mark Buehrle rolled through the first five innings Friday, allowing no runs and just 2 hits.

But as the White Sox piled up runs against Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona and reliever Justin Germano, Buehrle backed off and the long wait between innings took a toll.

“I think there were a couple innings there, when you get a big lead like that you don’t want to just keep on throwing all your breaking pitches,” Buehrle said. “You just kind of come at them with your fastball and I got into some trouble there in that last inning and actually had to start pitching. I was kind of using everything and leaving some pitches overt the middle and they did what they’re supposed to do with them.”

Buehrle had a lot of time on his hands in the third and fourth innings while the White Sox were scoring 12 runs.

“Sitting in the dugout, I tried to do everything I could,” he said. “Go down there and get on the bike and try to stay sweating in between innings. I don’t like going out there, sitting for 20 minutes is good because they’re scoring runs, but you try to do everything you can to stay loose and not tighten up.”