TORONTO (AP) - Pitching at Rogers Centre again was all Jose Quintana needed to end his long winless stretch. Getting a lot of run support helped, too.
The left-hander pitched seven strong innings to pick up his first win since May 2 as the Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-4 Friday night.
Quintana (3-8) improved to 5-0 in five career starts in Toronto after coming in 0-4 over his previous seven outings.
Despite coming into the game with a career-low run support of 2.65 per game this season, the lowest such mark in the majors, he got plenty against the Blue Jays as the White Sox scored seven runs in the first two innings.
“Every time is good when you get a lot of (run) support,” he said. “Wow, it was a lot of runs though.”
Melky Cabrera accounted for the majority of those in his return to Toronto, where he played from 2013-14. The left fielder hit his seventh home run and knocked in five runs to lead the White Sox to their fifth straight win at Rogers Centre, and their eighth victory in their last nine games against the Blue Jays.
With first-hand knowledge of just how potent the Blue Jays’ lineup can sometimes be, Cabrera said that his team was not about to let up.
“We felt good but we kept going,” he said through a translator. “We score as many runs as we can, especially for Jose and we were happy about it.”
Toronto starter Joe Biagini (1-6) lasted just 33 pitches, getting yanked with none out in the second inning. The right-hander gave up eight hits and seven runs in the shortest start of his career.
“I kind of felt like I was kind of not staying within my mechanics very well,” he said.
Manager John Gibbons was somewhat surprised by Biagini’s struggles as he failed to record a strikeout. The 14 hits recorded by Chicago marked the third time this month Toronto has given up as many.
“He just had trouble throwing strikes,” Gibbons said. “I’ve never seen that out of him before. He was on six days’ rest with all the off-days, but no excuses.”
All of the Blue Jays’ scoring came on home runsl, with Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce hitting solo shots early on and Justin Smoak adding a two-run shot in the ninth inning. It was Pearce’s 19th home run of the season to leave him one shy of matching his career high.
According to STATS, the game marked the 11th time that the Blue Jays have hit three or more home runs and lost by seven or more runs.
WELCOME BACK?
According to StatsCentre, Cabrera is the first former Blue Jays player to have five or more RBIs against his old team since Jayson Werth had eight on May 16, 2008.
DOUBLE DOWNER
The Blue Jays hit into four double plays for just the second time ever in a game against the White Sox. The first time took place on May 21, 1985.
GETTING OVER THE HUMP
At 32-33 coming into the game, Toronto had another chance to get back to .500 for the first time since opening day. For the seventh time though, the Blue Jays spurned the opportunity.
INSPIRED SUBSTITION
Two nights after hitting his first career home run, Alen Hanson was called to start in place of Leury Garcia in center field and bat leadoff. He took advantage of the opportunity with his first three-hit game, going 3 of 4 with a stolen base, three runs and one run batted in.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: OF Leury Garcia was pulled from the starting lineup with a left hand complaint, and replaced in the starting lineup by utility player Alen Hanson. Manager Rick Renteria expected Garcia to be available off the bench, and the team will see how the hand is on Saturday.
Blue Jays: OF Pearce returned from the 10-day DL following his calf strain and was inserted straight into the starting lineup. . In a corresponding move, utilityman Chris Coghlan was placed on the DL with a left wrist contusion.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-5, 3.88) is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 22 strikeouts over his last five starts.
Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (7-2, 3.09) aims for his first career win against the White Sox in his fifth start against them
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