Blue Jays 2, White Sox 1: Jose Quintana abandoned again

In most cases, if a team held this Blue Jays offense to two runs while facing one of their backup plans, they should have been rewarded with a comfortable victory.

But because it's this year's White Sox, and possibly because Jose Quintana was on the mound, the Blue Jays took this one. The Sox outhit the Jays 7-5, but five of those seven hits came with nobody on and two outs. Hence, the Sox did not outscore the Jays. Their output off Felix Doubront was limited to a Carlos Sanchez RBI single, which was their only hit with runners in scoring position over just five at-bats.

Two of those at-bats came in the ninth inning. Alexei Ramirez led off with a single against Toronto closer Roberto Osuna, then moved to second on a Gordon Beckham sac bunt (Beckham's hitting .205 and looking the part, so that one's less objectionable than others).

J.B. Shuck pinch-hit for Tyler Flowers, and his job was made easier when Osuna spiked a fastball and allowed Ramirez to reach third. However, Shuck could only a muster shallow a fly to left field, and Ramirez couldn't tag. Conor Gillaspie pinch-hit for Sanchez, but he popped out in foul territory to end the game.

To update Colleen Kane's pregame tweet ...

The White Sox have scored 4 or fewer runs in 23 straight home games, dating back to 5/10, the longest streak in club history.

— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) July 7, 2015

...it's 24 now.

So Jose Quintana took the loss despite pitching his longest outing of the season. He lasted eight innings, allowing two runs on just four hits.

The Blue Jays manufactured a run in the first. Jose Reyes led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a Josh Donaldson groundout, and scored on a Jose Bautista groundout.

Then they scored a run in their usual fashion in the fourth, as Josh Donaldson took a fastball the other way high and into the Blue Jays bullpen for his sixth homer against the Sox this year. They've only played five games against each other.

Other than that, Quintana pitched beautifully, and the Sox even defended well enough. Ramirez committed his 10th error of the year, but the Sox turned a couple of double plays, and Quintana's night ended on a positive note with a great play between Adam Eaton and Ramirez. With two outs in the eighth, Edwin Encarnacion hit a missile to just left of center. He wasn't running full speed out of the box, and was caught off guard when it bounced high off the wall.

Eaton made a smart move by pulling up short of the wall and giving himself room for the carom. He played it beautifully, spun and fired to second, where Ramirez caught his on-target throw and lunged across second base to tag Encarnacion's hand before said hand could touch the bag. After the second inning, that was pretty much the only non-Quintana thing Sox fans could cheer for.

Record: 37-44 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights