After allowing quick single tallies, Jose Quintana and Trevor Bauer settled into a staring contest.
In the sixth inning, Bauer blinked. Or flinched. Or recoiled and fell backwards into a store display that topped on top of him. An Adam Eaton leadoff walk triggered a seven-run inning that turned a usually tense Quintana start into a crowd-pleaser for the 15,588 fans and 1,122 dogs in attendance.
The margin of victory was stunning considering how well Bauer had pitched before the sixth. He entered the inning having retired 13 of 14, but Eaton turned a 1-2 count into a walk in his third plate appearance, and the rest of the White Sox were equally wise to what Bauer was throwing. Tim Anderson shot a single through the middle, and Melky Cabrera’s liner dropped in front of Rajai Davis. Eaton had to hold to see if Davis could catch up to it, so that only loaded the bases.
Jose Abreu made it clear the Sox weren’t coming away empty-handed. He lined a 1-1 pitch to center to single home Eaton, and after Alex Avila struck out, Todd Frazier followed his teammates up the middle with a single off the mound, scoring Anderson and Cabrera. That chased Bauer from the game, but the Sox weren’t done. Avisail Garcia greeted Dan Otero with a single through the middle, and Carlos Sanchez rifled a line drive to right that got past Abraham Almonte for a triple and a 7-1 lead. Eaton then capped off the scoring with a ground-rule double to right center.
Quintana could breathe easier the rest of the way, but he had control of the proceedings after a second-inning homer by Brandon Guyer. He allowed just five hits, a walk and an HBP over his eight innings, and the Indians only had four at-bats with runners in scoring position all night (they went hitless).
Conversely, the White Sox went 7-for-11 in the clutch. Abreu drove in the first Sox run with a two-out single to right, which scored Eaton to take a 1-0 lead after one. They just couldn’t generate another opportunity for the next four innings, as Bauer kept the bases clean with exception of a two-out HBP of Sanchez in the fifth inning. Somehow, he ended up with a disaster start, allowing six runs over his 5⅓ innings.
Bullet points:
*Quintana lowered his ERA to 3.05 while picking up his 12th win, which is his first against Cleveland in four tries this year.
*Abreu’s two RBIs puts him at 94 for a year, and Frazier set a career high with his 90th RBI.
*Sanchez started at third, Frazier played first and Abreu DH’d, as Justin Morneau missed the game with a sore neck. They all drove in two runs.
*The White Sox indeed established a Guinness record for the most dogs at a sporting event.
Record: 70-74 | Box score | Highlights