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CHICAGO (AP) — Backed by enough runs and some nifty defense, Jose Quintana finally reached a personal milestone he's been craving.
Quintana pitched into the eighth inning to earn a career-best 10th win and Jose Abreu homered for the second straight game to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
"This was really special for me," Quintana said. "When the year started, (winning 10) was my first goal.
"All my guys, teammates, celebrated with me."
Todd Frazier had three hits and drove in two runs, and Justin Morneau added an RBI double in Chicago's three-run first as the White Sox took the final two games of the series and handed Oakland its seventh loss in eight games. Tim Anderson also had three hits.
Khris Davis hit his 32nd homer, a two-run shot , off Quintana (10-9) who finished with nine wins in each of the previous three seasons. The left-hander allowed struck out six and walked one in this one while allowing eight hits, and improved to 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last nine starts.
Frazier said the normally reserved Quintana was "just yelling and screaming like a little kid" when the White Sox re-entered their clubhouse.
"He deserves it," Frazier said. "Sometimes you gotta get like that in this game."
Quintana, who entered with a run support average of 3.31 per nine innings pitched — second lowest in the AL — got more help than usual from his teammates, both offensively and defensively. Center fielder J.B. Shuck made two great catches, including a running grab of Ryon Healy's hard-hit line drive with two outs in the first and runners on second and third.
The White Sox staked Quintana to a 3-0 lead in the bottom half.
"It helps a lot... with the lack of run support he's had over a period of time," manager Robin Ventura said. "After that point, he was pretty strong."
Quintana got two quick strikes on Jake Smolinski to lead off the eighth, but walked him and then was replaced by Nate Jones. After Jones tossed a scoreless inning, David Robertson go the last three outs for his 32nd save in 38 chances.
Zach Neal (2-3) allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings as he started in place of Jesse Hahn, who had been expected to come off the disabled list. Hahn suffered discomfort in his strained right shoulder in a bullpen session on Friday and will need another rehab game before rejoining the Athletics' rotation.
Oakland's Marcus Semien had two doubles and Smolinski singled twice, but the A's dropped to 1-5 on a nine-game road trip.
"They (White Sox) did a lot of great work, especially in the outfield taking away extra-base hits — multiple ones — the last couple of games," manager Bob Melvin said.
With two outs in the first, Morneau doubled in the first run, then Frazier's single drove in two more.
After Semien led off the fourth with his second double of game, Davis followed with his homer deep to right center to cut it to 3-2. Shuck made a another great catch, this time diving to grab Brett Eibner's sinking liner , for the second out.
Abreu led off the bottom half with his 16th homer to make it 4-2.
FIRST HIT
Oakland's Chad Pinder, who went 0 for 4 in major league debut Saturday, was back in the lineup at second base and got an infield single in the seventh for his first hit . The A's second-round pick in 2013, Pinder is the 46th player to appear in a game for Oakland this season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: DH Billy Butler sat out with a stomach illness for the second day. ... LHP Sean Doolittle, on the DL since June 26 (strained left shoulder), will have his rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville extended a few more days. ... RHP Henderson Alvarez, out all season as recovers from shoulder surgery, threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session on Sunday and will be re-evaluated on Monday.
White Sox: INF Tyler Saladino (back) didn't start for a third game for what manager Robin Ventura called "precautionary" reasons, but is expected to return Tuesday. ... 2B Brett Lawrie (hamstring, quadriceps) left Double-A Birmingham's game on Saturday after four innings after sitting out two games. Ventura said Lawrie needs to show he can go longer in a game before returning.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Andrew Triggs (0-1, 4.98) faces RHP Carlos Carrasco (8-6, 3.34) as the A's open a three game series at Cleveland.
White Sox: Following a day off on Monday, LHP Carlos Rodon (3-8, 4.26) takes the mound against Jake Thompson (1-2, 8.79) when Chicago hosts the Phillies in the first of a two-game set. Rodon is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 16 strikeouts in his last three starts after a stint on DL (sprained left wrist).
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