Red Sox hit six HRs to power past White Sox

CHICAGO -- A pitching matchup of Red Sox ace Chris Sale and White Sox ace José Quintana on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field not only meant Sale's return to Chicago but also figured to be a low-scoring, quick-paced game.
Instead, it was a slugfest, with the Red Sox hitting six home runs and claiming a 13-7 victory. The Red Sox entered the night tied for last in the Majors with the Giants at 42 homers.
"I think we've played two games above 60 degrees at home, and I'm not going to pin it all on the weather, but I would hope that as we get into more consistent, warmer weather, we're going to see more impact to the baseball, and hopefully tonight was an example of it," said Red Sox manager John Farrell.
Deven Marrero, Boston's No. 9 hitter who started the contest with a .175 average, one homer and six RBIs, homered in both the second and third innings off Quintana, giving him five RBIs. Sale personally thanked Marrero for picking him up after the game.

"I was kind of all over the place, erratic, and wasn't throwing a lot of strikes," said Sale. "But when the boys come alive behind you, it's nice. I don't know how many times I've given up six runs and still been in a pretty good mood after the game. That says a lot about my guys behind me."

Quintana departed after 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits. He has given up 15 earned runs on 18 hits over his last seven innings pitched, with 11 strikeouts, no walks and four home runs.
• Quintana's struggles continue
"Tonight for me was a little embarrassing with my teammates," Quintana said. "They made a lot of effort to win this game, and I can't do nothing."

Sale, who was a five-time All-Star for the White Sox before being traded to Boston last December, lasted five innings (111 pitches), his shortest outing of the season and the first one with Boston in which he didn't pitch at least six. The six runs yielded and 10 hits allowed also represented Boston highs for Sale, who struck out nine.
"I was actually looking forward to this. Pitching against my buddies, my old team. Q is like a brother to me, too," said Sale. "So going up against him was fun. Obviously the end result wasn't exactly what we expected, but by no means am I glad this is over. I wish I enjoyed it more, but it was something I was looking forward to."
• Sale enjoys amped-up setting vs. White Sox
The homer by Xander Bogaerts in the eighth off Dan Jennings gave him four hits on the night. The other longballs were delivered by Mookie Betts, Mitch Moreland and Jackie Bradley Jr.Sam Travis, who prepped 40 minutes outside of Chicago at Providence Catholic High School, hit two doubles and a single and scored three runs.

But Marrero's performance loomed the largest on this day.
"It was pretty awesome just to go out there and compete and have some big hits out there," Marrero said. "It's nice. I saw two curveballs and hit both of them pretty good. It was pretty fun."
Todd Frazier homered off Sale, while Leury García, Tim Anderson, Melky Cabrera, Kevan Smith and Avisaíl García had multi-hit efforts. Anderson homered off reliever Blaine Boyer in the eighth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Long-distance breathing room: The White Sox had chipped away at a pair of four-run deficits to get the game back to 7-6 when Bradley increased Boston's comfort level with a three-run homer in the fifth. Travis and Sandy León reached base against Michael Ynoa, and the left-handed-hitting Bradley connected off left-handed reliever Jennings, the first batter Jennings faced.

"Yeah, it was a close game. They swung the bats well, we swung the bats well," said Bradley. "I was glad we were able to edge them out toward the end. Chris hung in there and battled. What more can you ask?"
Professional at-bat:José Abreu hung in for an eight-pitch at-bat against Sale in the second with the bases loaded and two outs and eventually hit a two-run single. With a 2-2 count, Abreu fouled off fastballs from Sale at 98.2, 98.1 and 97.1 mph before ripping a changeup past Marrero at third to finish off a three-run rally.
"To their credit, they fought off some good pitches," said Farrell. "When he made a mistake, they made him pay for it. A couple of walks mixed in in the bunch, but they put up a good effort against him, for sure."
• Abreu earns AL Player of the Week honors
QUOTABLE
"I wasn't smiling a whole lot tonight, that's for sure. I kept them to a touchdown. I didn't let them get the extra point. We were both off. I think people were expecting something a little different, but they came to a 7 o'clock batting-practice session tonight." -- Sale, on his matchup with former teammate Quintana not living up to expectations
"It's a little surreal. You have one former player and one who's here currently, and those two guys are pretty good friends, too. I think both of them were trying to do their best." -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria on the Sale/Quintana matchup
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Bogaerts has been on a tear for the Red Sox, hitting .416 (15-for-36) over his past nine games, with four multi-hit games in that span.
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: Left-hander Drew Pomeranz gets the ball for the Red Sox in the finale of the three-game series, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET. Pomeranz is coming off one of his best starts of the season, as he equaled a career high with 11 strikeouts against the Rangers in a 6-2 win.
White Sox:Mike Pelfrey (2-4, 4.41) gets the call for the series finale against the Red Sox, with a 7:10 CT first pitch. Pelfrey has a 2-0 record and 1.64 ERA over his last two starts, including a win over the Tigers.
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