Quintana late to ballpark, unsettled on mound

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The seven runs on six hits allowed by White Sox hurler Jose Quintana over three innings against the Angels in Thursday's 8-6 loss had little to directly do with his left shin contusion sustained on Saturday off of a Gerardo Parra first-inning line drive.

Exiting after just two batters from that game, though, cost Quintana some needed Spring Training work, preparation the southpaw intends to get to over the final two weeks. It actually was the cutter causing Quintana the most problems at Diablo Stadium, with the Angels knocking him around for six runs on five hits in the second inning alone.

"My cutter was not working good today. I need to practice that. It's Spring Training, but I need more preparation," Quintana said. "I need to practice all of my pitching situations.

"If you have a bad start, it's better right here in Spring Training. I need to continue my preparation to be ready for the season."

Quintana threw approximately 60 pitches on Thursday, with a target of 80 to 85 pitches for his next start Tuesday against the A's. Manager Robin Ventura mentioned that Quintana got stuck in traffic and arrived late to the ballpark, so he might have felt out of sorts from the start.

"He was up and in the zone. I think he just felt rushed," said Ventura. "Everything was up, and they had some pretty good swings in there."