White Sox 'trip' up Rangers behind Quintana

April 23rd, 2016

CHICAGO -- Jose Quintana threw seven scoreless innings and got help from a White Sox triple play in the seventh during a 5-0 victory over the Rangers on Friday night at chilly U.S. Cellular Field.
Quintana entered the seventh with the five-run lead and having retired 11 straight. The Rangers loaded the bases on Prince Fielder's double, Adrian Beltre's single and a walk to Ian Desmond, before Mitch Moreland's line shot to right fielder Adam Eaton turned into a triple play and the first for the White Sox since Sept. 18, 2006, against the Tigers.
"Well, I never saw that before," Quintana said. "Today that happened to me, that's so exciting. That was fun. I enjoyed this moment."
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"Not only that play, we just didn't play well tonight," Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said. "A lot of mistakes by us."
The White Sox southpaw struck out four, walked two and gave up four hits. Martin Perez took the loss, giving up five runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, while striking out two and walking two. Matt Albers worked a scoreless eighth for the White Sox, raising his scoreless streak to 31 innings over 28 appearances, while Melky Cabrera chipped in two hits and two runs scored.
"I'm glad we got a win as well," Eaton said. "Guys came back and had some timely hitting. 'Q' came out and pitched his butt off, which we love to see. Albers came in and shut the door so it was good to see those guys come in and do what they need to do and have some timely hitting on top of that."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Manufacturer's guarantee: With the ball not carrying much Friday night, the White Sox turned to small ball to score their second run. Eaton opened the third with a double lined down the left field line. He was bunted to third by Austin Jackson and scored on Jose Abreu's sacrifice fly to center.

"I like home runs too -- I'm not against it at all," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "But with the weather and the way things have been going, you need to scratch some across. We've got some guys that can lay it down. Sometimes, that's what you need to do just to scratch it across and get a little momentum going to feel like you can push one across."
What a trip: The Rangers had the bases loaded with nobody out in the seventh, and the rally died on the triple play. Moreland lined out to right, Desmond was doubled off first and then Fielder, running from third, was tagged out in a rundown. It was the first triple play turned against the Rangers since 1991.
"Not our best inning of baserunning," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "Three veteran guys running the bases, you're not going to see that very often."
Face of intensity:Brett Lawrie turned a close game into a comfortable advantage for the White Sox with a two-run, two-out double off of Perez in the sixth. Lawrie drove home Todd Frazier and Cabrera, hustling into second for the extra-base hit and then showing the intense enthusiasm White Sox fans have come to expect. More >

Two-out walk bites: Perez, trailing 2-0, had retired eight of nine hitters going into the sixth and put down the first two of that inning as well. But Frazier worked an eight-pitch walk with two outs and that cost Perez dearly. A pair of doubles by Cabrera and Lawrie brought home two runs and, after Perez left, a single by Jerry Sands made it 5-0.
"He pitched well but the two-out walk was what got him in trouble," Banister said.

QUOTABLE
"I've never had that much fun on a ballfield. I'm very confident saying that. I've never had that much fun on a ballfield, and it couldn't have happened with a better group of guys." -- Eaton, on the triple play
"We just couldn't figure him out all night." -- Beltre, on Quintana
IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHICAGO'S WEATHER ...
Thursday afternoon's game-time temperature against the Angels was 70 degrees. Friday night's first pitch checked in at a crisp 45 degrees.
MOUND STINGINESS
The White Sox recorded their fourth shutout of the season, their most over the first 17 games since 1947 (also four).
"Love it," Ventura said of the team's exceptional pitching.
"Every inning, I try to get zero runs so they don't score," said Quintana, who is 4-1 with a 1.63 ERA over his last nine starts dating back to Sept. 5, 2015. "Especially late in the game, because you see the hitters for the third time, fourth time in the game, and it's really important to try to get quick outs in the sixth and seventh inning."

WHAT'S NEXT
Rangers:Colby Lewis pitches against the White Sox at 1:10 p.m. CT Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field. Lewis has won six straight starts against the White Sox, including two by shutout in Chicago.
White Sox:Carlos Rodon is ready to produce better results Saturday than he did against the Angels last Monday. Rodon lasted a career-worst one-third of an inning, allowing five runs on six hits, while throwing 22 of 41 pitches for strikes.
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