Carlos Quentin batted in the third spot for the first time all year, and he seemed to respond well to it. He put the Sox on the board with a single in the first, then broke the game open with a grand slam in the eighth.
And it was exactly what Jose Contreras deserved.
Locked in a 1-1 tie, Quentin came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning. Juan Uribe led off with a single ripped to left off Scot Shields, and after failing on two bunt attempts, Orlando Cabrera hit a grounder deep in the hole. Erick Aybar made an ill-advised throw to first, and it sailed over Casey Kotchman and into the seats to put runners on second and third.
Shields walked A.J. Pierzynski intentionally, and Quentin was grateful for the opportunity. After taking two pitches out of the strike zone, Quentin sat dead red on a fastball and blasted a line shot over the center field fence for a 5-1 lead.
The slam gave Contreras a win, and he deserved it after dazzling the Los Angeles Angels with an array of junky forkballs all night long. Pitching more like a knuckleballer than a sinkerballer, the Count kept the bases clear for most of the evening after stranding runners on the corners in the first inning.
The Angels scored their only run in the fifth when Maicer Izturis walked and stole second. He went to third on Robb Quinlan's single to right, and scored on Mike Napoli's sac fly to left. Contreras froze Gary Matthews with a forkball, but then plunked Aybar with one to bring Vladimir Guerrero to the plate with two on and two out.
Contreras struck Vlad out on three pitches, and the rest of the night was drama-free from a pitching perspective. Torii Hunter was the only Angel to reach after that point, and he was picked off -- perhaps on Cabrera's counsel. He visited the mound, Contreras held the ball for a long time, and Hunter tried stealing off Contreras before he threw the pitch.
Nick Swisher added his fourth homer of the year, and Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks finished the game with no damage done.
Record: 19-20 |
Box score |
Play-by-play