Sox bats heating up with weather
The wind was gusting from right field to left on a warm Thursday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
The conditions were favorable for some serious hitting, and the White Sox exploited the wind with 5 home runs in an 11-8 win over Minnesota.
“Offensively, guys were swinging it tonight,” manager Robin Ventura said after the Sox (23-22) won for the sixth time in seven games and moved over the .500 mark for the first time since May 1. “Even for (the Twins), they had some runs, too. Offensively, it was a nice night for everybody.”
Five different players went deep for the White Sox. A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko, Alex Rios and Dayan Viciedo hit solo shots and Alejandro De Aza put the Sox in front 10-5 with a grand slam in the sixth inning.
“Once you see a teammate hit a home run, you want to hit a home run,” De Aza said. “I was just trying to hit the ball as hard as I can. I was trying to get a flyball because it was bases loaded. And luckily the flyball got big, you know.”
De Aza's slam was big for the White Sox because the Twins hit 3 home runs in the game — 2 by Justin Morneau — and kept chipping away.
White Sox starter Phil Humber was staked to an early 4-1 lead, but Minnesota answered back with 4 runs in the fifth inning to take the lead.
Humber allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings.
“That didn't have anything to do with what I did out there,” Humber said when asked about the wind.
“I just wasn't very good. I don't know. I didn't feel like I had command of anything, really, from the very start. I've got to figure out what's going on.
“Even though I had good results in the first couple innings there, I didn't feel like I was throwing the ball the way I need to throw the ball to be successful. Eventually, the results are going to catch up to you. I'm glad the team picked me up. What a great job by the lineup tonight.”
Another shot:
With John Danks (shoulder) heading to the disabled list, Jose Quintana is coming up from the minor leagues to take his spot in the starting rotation.
Quintana, also a left-hander, starts against the Indians tonight.
It's been a busy week for Quintana. The 23-year-old pitcher was promoted to Class AAA Charlotte from AA Birmingham, where he was 1-3 with a 2.77 ERA in 9 starts.
Quintana got a shot to pitch for the White Sox earlier in the season, and he impressed manager Robin Ventura by throwing 5 innings of scoreless relief in a May 7 game at Cleveland.
“That's one of the things that happens when guys kind of fill in, you do enough to earn that shot the second time,” Ventura said.
Quintana, from Colombia, was originally signed by the Mets in 2006. He sat out the entire 2007 season after violating terms of Minor-League Baseball's drug policy and spent the past four seasons in the Yankees' system before signing a free-agent deal with the Sox on Nov. 10.