Lefty sets career high in innings, but defense puts him in the loss column to end season
Jose Quintana topped his career high in innings by one out, but he paid a price for doing so.
He finished his season with 200⅓ innings, but he also left runners on the corners with one out and Billy Butler coming to the plate in a 3-3 game, a situation Jake Petricka inherited. Petricka did his job by getting a bouncer to short, but Marcus Semien bounced the throw on the pivot, and didn't even give Jose Abreu a good dig attempt. Instead, the in-between hop cleared Abreu's mitt and allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Terrance Gore pinch-ran for Butler, stole second and scored on Alex Gordon's single for an insurance run, and they added a run in the ninth in a very September fashion -- Eric Surkamp walked Jarrod Dyson with two outs, and he moved to second on a Josh Phegley passed ball before coming home on a Lorenzo Cain single.
So Quintana came up short in his bid to pick up a 10th victory, which would've also been a career best, and didn't even get his trademark no-decision. But the White Sox win by losing -- since the Marlins beat the Phillies, the Sox locked in a protected first-round draft pick for next season.
Quintana seemed to be a in a good position, as the Sox led 3-1 through four. They overcame an RBI single by Eric Hosmer in the first inning with a two-run second, with both runs coming on a Phegley homer off James Shields. A Jordan Danks RBI single through the right side gave the Sox a two-run lead.
But the Royals erased it over the next two innings. Sal Perez led off with a triple that hung in the lights too long for Moises Sierra to track it, and after Quintana came back with a couple of strikeouts, Alcides Escobar cashed in Perez with a single to right, making it a 3-2 game. Nori Aoki then singled to left, but he was thrown out at second on a great redirection from Alexei Ramirez, who cut off the throw going to third.
The lead didn't live much longer, though, as Hosmer hit a rolling breaking ball deep to tie the game at 3. That was just the 10th homer of the year allowed Quintana, so he hit round numbers in two categories. One of these days, his teammates will give him enough support to reach double-digits in the win column.
Bullet points:
*Phegley has hit his homers off Shields, Anibal Sanchez, David Price and two off Matt Garza, so add in the passed ball and it was the Full Free Bird tonight.
*Likewise, Semien combined his key non-error error with a great game at the plate, going 1-for-1 with a triple, two walks and a sac bunt.
*Carlos Sanchez wasn't available because his son was born during the game.
*The Royals' magic number for a postseason berth is 1.
Record: 72-87 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights
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