Despite their best efforts — and because their best efforts were too infrequent between May and August — the White Sox locked in their fourth consecutive losing season with tonight’s defeat.
Jose Quintana pitched well, but the front end of the bullpen faltered enough to dig too deep a hole for the Sox offense. That ended the five-game winning streak and the chance of winning out for a .500 record.
Quintana took the loss, as he gave up a couple runs on soft contact (an Alexei Ramirez blooper) and hard (a Mikie Mahtook solo shot), which allowed the Rays to take a lead they never relinquished. Nevertheless, he wrapped up his season with a strong six-inning outing, allowing those two runs on five hits and two walks while fanning seven.
His 13-12 record sets career highs in both wins and losses, among the many new bests he set this season (previous high in parentheses):
- Innings: 208 (206.1)
- ERA: 3.20 (3.32)
- Strikeouts: 181 (178)
The White Sox came close to getting Quintana off the hook in the sixth. Tim Anderson hit a one-out triple and scored on a Melky Cabrera groundout to cut Tampa Bay’s lead in half.
Alas, Juan Minaya started the seventh, and the Rays were ready for him. He gave up three well-struck balls -- double, single, single — to make it a 3-1 game, and then clipped Logan Forsythe after getting Bobby Wilson to pop out. That brought Dan Jennings into a bases-loaded situation, and he gave up a soft single to Kevin Kiermaier that gave the Rays a four-run lead.
That cushion made it virtually impossible for Chris Archer to lose his 20th game. The best the White Sox could do was inflate his ERA back over 4.00, which Carlos Sanchez did in the seventh when he roped a line drive just inside the right-field foul pole for a two-run shot. Archer rebounded by getting a fly to left, but it clanked off the glove of Chris Dickerson for a "double" to bring the tying run to the plate, and Brad Boxberger in to relieve Archer. Boxberger preserved the win bid by getting Adam Eaton to ground out.
Bullet points:
*The teams played through rain for a couple innings until the field became too waterlogged in the ninth. A 35-minute rain delay commenced.
*Ramirez was a pest against his former team, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Record: 77-82 | Box score | Highlights