Seeking their first road series victory of the season, the White Sox tried getting ahead early. It proved to be a good strategy.
The Sox manufactured a run before hitting back-to-back homers for the first time all season, and that ended up being all the necessary runs for Jose Quintana and friends.
Adam Eaton started the game with a 12-pitch walk and scored without a hit (wild pitch, Emilio Bonifacio groundout, Melky Cabrera sac fly). Then the two-out offense kicked in when Avisail Garcia redirected a Jimmy Nelson fastball over the fence just right of center, and Adam LaRoche topped him by taking a high fastball the same direction, but 20 feet farther.
Just like that, Quintana had a 3-0 lead. And while he only received one more run of support (a Bonifacio RBI single in the seventh), he kept the Brewers at arm's length the entire night.
Quintana was masterful, striking out 10 over seven shutout innings while allowing just three hits and a walk.* Milwaukee didn't threaten him until the seventh, when Khris Davis and Ryan Braun hit a couple of well-placed grounders for singles. The Brewers then tested the defense at second base, but Bonifacio made a diving stab on Carlos Gomez's grounder for one out, and Quintana blew away Adam Lind and Martin Maldonado to end the threat.
(*Then, for some reason, Robin Ventura had Quintana start the eighth on 109 pitches and against a righty. Hector Gomez crushed an 0-2 changeup for a leadoff triple, and then Ventura called for Jake Petricka. Gomez came around to score on a Gerardo Parra infield single. That put an unnecessary run on Quintana's tab over seven-plus innings.)
Petricka then gave up a single to Elian Herrara to bring the tying run to the plate, but Khris Davis grounded into a stuttering 6-4-3 double play, with Adam LaRoche making a nice scoop on a low, wide throw by Bonifacio, after he received a late feed from Alexei Ramirez.
David Robertson took over in the ninth with a three-run lead and gave up his first homer of the season to Carlos Gomez with one out and the bases empty. He then walked his second batter of the year to bring the tying run to the plate, but Gordon Beckham snagged Maldonado's liner, and Hector Gomez struck out to end it.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox had nine hits spread out among their eight position players, with Avisail Garcia owning the only multi-hit game. Quintana was 0-for-2, but he laid down a sac bunt.
*Eaton had a nice game at the top of the order, going 1-for-3 with two walks. The Sox controlled the strike zone well, drawing four walks to just five strikeouts.
*The Sox have now scored 10 runs in the first inning through their first 30 games, which is still the worst in the league.
*For your viewing pleasure:
Record: 14-17 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights