KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Jose Quintana received some welcome early run support in beating the Kansas City Royals.
Quintana gave up four singles over eight innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Royals 6-0 on Tuesday night.
Quintana (2-4) walked two, struck out seven and allowed only one runner to reach second base. The White Sox had given him a career-low 1.84 runs per game in his first five starts, which was the second lowest in the American League. The White Sox, however, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings Tuesday, making easier for the 28-year-old Colombian left-hander.
“That’s good,” Quintana said. “That’s a nice thing. The hitters were aggressive the whole game. When you’ve got that support early, that’s really good.”
Quintana’s career record is 48-50.
“He pitches well whether he has run support or not,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “You ask anybody from the organization, even prior to me getting here, he’s pitched well enough to win more games than his record shows, but he just hasn’t had the run support. He’s done his job.”
Royals manager Ned Yost was impressed with Quintana.
“He was really, really good,” Yost said. “You’ve got to give him some credit. He made the All-Star team last year and he’s always been tough against us, even though we find ways to beat him.”
The Royals lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Starter Danny Duffy (2-2) allowed six runs, 10 hits and two walks over five innings. Duffy has lost back-to-back starts to the White Sox, giving up 12 runs and 19 hits in 9 2/3 innings.
“I let my team down today,” Duffy said. “The last two times I’ve gone out there I’ve cost my team a chance to win. So, I take all the responsibility for the last two losses.”
It was Duffy’s first home loss since Sept. 5, 2015, snapping his franchise record of 16 consecutive Kauffman Stadium starts without a defeat.
Yolmer Sanchez had three hits and Avisail Garcia and Geovany Soto each had two to lead Chicago’s offense.
Garcia was 2 for 2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. He leads the American League with a .382 batting average, and his on-base percentage hiked to .433. He scored a run in the second and drove in Sanchez with a third-inning single.
Sanchez led off the third with a double and drove in Soto with a single in the sixth. Soto had two hits, a sacrifice fly and two RBIs. His second-inning single scored Todd Frazier with the first run of the game. His fly out to Whit Merrifield in the third scored Jose Abreu to make it 4-0.
TRES GARCAIS AGAIN
The White Sox recalled OF Willy Garcia from Triple-A Charlotte and started him in left field. Leury Garcia was in center and Avisail Garcia in right, giving the White Sox an all-Garcia outfield for the second time this season. The trio also started April 14, the first time in major league history that a team began a game playing three outfielders with the same last name. Willy Garcia has hit .294 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in 18 games in the International League.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: RHP James Shields (right lat strain) threw off a flat surface, but it could be a while before he returns to the rotation. “It’s kind of a slower process than I thought, right now,” Shields said. “It’s not really responding the way I would like it to be. I’ll keep moving forward.”
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Mike Pelfrey is 1-4 with a 6.51 ERA in nine career games against the Royals.
Royals: RHP Nate Karns is 0-2 with 5.24 ERA in four career starts versus the White Sox.
Photo credit – Charlie Riedel / Associated Press / Kansas City, MO
