Pavano's CG leads Twins past White Sox 3-2

Posted July 16, 2010 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

MINNEAPOLIS - The White Sox have a potential problem on their hands, and it's not their first two-game losing streak since late June.

It's Carlos Quentin.

Since June 22, the Sox' right fielder leads the major leagues with 11 home runs and ranks second to the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez (26) with 25 RBI.

But the injury bug is threatening to derail the White Sox' introverted slugger once again.

Quentin missed three games before the all-star break with a sore left knee, and he sat out Friday night's 7-4 loss to the Twins with a sore right hand.

That injury occurred in Thursday's series opener at Target Field, when Quentin was hit by a pitch for a league-leading 13th time.

The 27-year-old outfielder was back in the lineup Saturday, but Quentin didn't look close to 100 percent while going 0-for-4 and failing to make a fairly routine catch in the eighth inning.

Before the game, Quentin didn't want to talk about his latest health issue. And after the White Sox dropped their second straight to Minnesota, 3-2, manager Ozzie Guillen didn't have much to say.

"I think so," Guillen said when asked if Quentin's swing looked normal. "I trust Carlos. If it (hand) bothers him to hit, he will tell me. Pavy (Twins starter Carl Pavano) threw a (heck) of a game."

That is true, and Sox starter Mark Buehrle was almost as good.

But Quentin looked a little off while grounding back to Pavano in the second inning, striking out in the fourth and grounding out in the seventh.

And with pinch-runner Brent Lillibridge on third base as the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning, Quentin grounded out to shortstop J.J. Hardy and that was the game.

Can the White Sox win without getting big run production from their No. 5 hitter?

"We need him," Guillen said. "But in the meanwhile, I never put a risk on any player not good enough to go out and play. I don't want to miss players for a week when we should miss them for one or two days. One thing about it, he knows. We made it clear yesterday."

Quentin was again packed in ice after the Sox' narrow loss to Minnesota. He also wore a padded glove on his right hand during the game, which might have been his biggest problem.

"We tried to give him those (elbow) guards, but he can't do it," Guillen said. "We talked about it, tried to give him a pad on the hand, but he can't do it. Over his career, even in the minors and college, he got hit a lot. You can't change that. One thing about it, I hope he gets hit on his shoulder. When he opens his bat, his hands are right there and that's why he's hit a lot. That's why you hope nothing happens."

Pitches are always hitting Quentin, but that's only part of the health problem.

"When you play that hard the way he plays, you're taking a lot of risk," Guillen said. "When he dove for the ball in Chicago (against the Angels on July 5), I held my breath. This kid comes out there and gives you 200 percent every time he's out there. He plays only one way and it's the only way he knows how to play."

Twins 3, White Sox 2

Just short again: The Sox left the bases loaded in the ninth inning of Friday's 7-4 loss to the Twins. On Saturday, they had the tying run on third base with one out in the ninth but Paul Konerko struck out and Carlos Quentin grounded out.

Tough town: Outside of allowing 3 runs in the second inning, White Sox starter Mark Buehrle pitched well. Buehrle went 8 innings and yielded the 3 runs on 9 hits, but he lost at Minnesota for the fifth straight time.

Picked apart: Buehrle had 2 pickoffs Saturday and he has 9 for the season. Since 2001, Buehrle leads the major leagues with 72 pickoffs. The Yankees' Andy Pettitte is second with 45.