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The man who turned the no-decision into a performance art finished his season with a masterpiece.
Despite going nine innings, Jose Quintana finished another season stuck on nine wins. Robin Ventura kept sending him out there for a chance at that elusive 10th victory, which would've been a career best, but the White Sox stranded the go-ahead run on third base in the eighth and never threatened again.
Eventually David Robertson took over in the 10th, and he gave up a two-run homer to Eric Hosmer and created a classic #pitchergif in the process.
#pitchergifs pic.twitter.com/gAv5yDpwvk
— South Side Sox (@SouthSideSox) October 1, 2015
Back to Quintana, while he couldn't get his 10th win, he did set a career high in innings with 206⅓. And while he gave up two homers -- an opposite-field solo shot to Alex Gordon, and a Mike Moustakas two-run blast to right -- he brushed them off to complete a season that fits comfortably between his last two.
It could've been worse, because he was in position for a loss before a late rally by the White Sox offense.
Down 3-1, Jose Abreu hit a majestic blast just right of center off Luke Hochevar in the seventh, and his 30th homer made it a one-run game. An inning later, the game was tied courtesy of a couple of defensive lapses by the Royals
The inning should've ended when Mike Olt hit a grounder to Moustakas' left. Moustakas gloved it while hitting the ground awkwardly, and it rolled out of his glove as he tried righting himself. Olt was then replaced by Tyler Saladino, who stole second, then took third when Salvador Perez's throw bounced into center field.
Meanwhile, Tyler Flowers had a 2-2 count after swinging through two fastballs. Kelvin Herrera tried a third at 100 mph, and Flowers hit a high fly to deep right. Its course fooled Paulo Orlando, as the wind pushed it over his head and off the warning track for a ground-rule double to tie the game at 4.
Herrera then walked Adam Eaton, and a wild pitch during that plate appearance moved Leury Garcia up to third. So Abreu came back to the plate for a chance to collect his 100th RBI, but he bounced out to the left side on the first pitch to bring the rally to an anticlimactic close.
That was the dominant theme earlier int he evening. The White Sox made a lot of noise against Edinson Volquez, but could only hump one run across the plate over the first six innings. They left them loaded in the first after three two-out singles, and while Eaton punched a base hit through the middle to drive in a run, they stranded two more in the second.
The Sox made Volquez work, as he allowed nine hits and a walk over six innings and 117 pitches. Problem was all of those hits were singles, and that put the Sox on track to strand 11 on the night.
Record: 74-84 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights