posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:35 PM by Jim

May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Sometimes Carlos Quentin is all the offense the Sox can muster.  But when Jose Contreras pitches as well as he did tonight, that might be all the offense the Sox needs.

Quentin ended the game with a walk-off homer -- the second on the evening for him -- and drove in all three of the Sox's runs and Jose Contreras struck out 10 over eight stellar innings to avoid the sweep.

John Lackey had his way with most of the Sox lineup all night.  In fact, he entered the ninth inning only having thrown 77 pitches.  But Quentin was the one hitter he'd yet to retire.  Lackey plunked Quentin in the first inning, allowed his 14th homer of the year in the third and an opposite-field single in the sixth.

So Q had to be feeling pretty good when he came up to the plate for a fourth time to lead off the ninth.  He was locked in on covering the outer half, swinging and missing on a fastball and holding up on one outside for a 1-1 count.  The next pitch, one tailed back toward the middle of the plate and Quentin deposited it into the left-field seats to end the game.

The only downside is that Contreras failed to get the win.  Scott Linebrink picked up his second win of the week with 1-2-3 ninth.

He deserved the W, because outside of a three-pitch stretch in the fourth, he was nearly untouchable.  Maicer Izturis ripped a single to right, and Gary Matthews Jr. hit a liner out of the yard two pitches later to tie the game at 2, a half-inning after the Sox grabbed the lead.

Before and after, Contreras shut them down.  The only other hit he allowed was a Garret Anderson double that hit off Quentin's mitt on a diving attempt.  But he rallied back, jamming Torii Hunter for a weak pop-out to second, getting Casey Kotchman to pop straight up and ending it by fanning Mike Napoli.

The Sox couldn't give him much support, however.  They only had two runners reach scoring position -- one was Quentin in the first after the HBP, and the other was Orlando Cabrera.  Sadly, Cabrera didn't get to stick around to enjoy it.  He doubled over the head of Torii Hunter, and was about to stop at second when he saw Sean Rodriguez bobble the cutoff throw.  Cabrera pressed his luck and was out easily at third.

Record: 27-22 | Box score | Play-by-play

Comments

# re: May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Sunday, May 25, 2008 11:11 PM by Orestes
I quess the Angels just have to tip their cap to Q

The W stat, in games like this, can be a bothersome one...."quality start" just doesn't have the same ring.

# re: May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Sunday, May 25, 2008 11:14 PM by Joist
That's why most smart people ignore the W stat. You're right that Contreras may not get as much recognition as he deserves, but his performance tonight was far and away the best of the season. That forkball was incredible; if Matthews Jr. pulls a Crede and fouls off the meatball, it's 2-0. Of course, that would have negated the walk-off homer by Q, so perhaps it's just as well.

Anybody else worried about Quentin's back starting to hurt? You know, from carrying the team?

# re: May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Monday, May 26, 2008 12:46 AM by Jim Margalus
It's an unjust world when Livan Hernandez (4.22 ERA) and Andy Sonnastine (5.09 ERA) have more wins than Contreras.

It's also scary to think what the standings would look like if Q started the season in Triple-A.

# re: May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Monday, May 26, 2008 9:53 AM by Florida Jim
It is frightening to think of where the Sox would be without Quentin-
Owens hitting .217 to date in Charlotte
Konerko, Thome, Alexi,Anderson,Uribe, Swisher, Cabrera all fighting to stay above the Mendoza Line
AJ, Crede dropping rapidly and bad-at-bats frequently
Thank God for Carlos Quentin and Ozzie for having the courage to keep him over Owens, Fields or whomever.

# re: May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Monday, May 26, 2008 9:55 AM by soxexile
I didn't see the entire game, but I was struck by the number of first-pitch outs the Sox gave up. Lackey went through less than 30 pitches in a four-inning stretch at one point. Is everybody just that anxious, or is there something going on that I don't understand? It would seem to me that you'd want to be a bit more patient and tire the pitcher, especially when you're in a team slump.