Cabrera, Frazier Homer As White Sox Beat Mariners 6-1
SEATTLE (AP) — Melky Cabrera's home run gave Chicago the lead. Todd Frazier's shot in the ninth gave the White Sox a much needed opportunity to relax.
Cabrera hit a tie-breaking homer leading off the seventh inning, Frazier added a two-run shot in the ninth and the White Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
After sputtering to open the second half of the season, the White Sox used three home runs and a strong performance from lefty Jose Quintana to finally snap their skid.
"It's good to get the one out of the way and kind of be able to relax again and hopefully get on a roll," center fielder J.B. Shuck said.
Cabrera lined his ninth home run of the season — and second batting right-handed — just over the wall in left field off Seattle starter Wade Miley (6-7) to snap a 1-1 tie. Shuck added an RBI single later in the seventh inning and Frazier capped the White Sox's first win since July 9 with his 27th home run in the ninth.
Brett Lawrie also hit a solo home run, his 12th.
"I think the way (Quintana) has been pitching, you feel like you get him a couple and he's going to do something with it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "The solo homers are nice, but I think to be able to put some on late and separate is the best thing that we did tonight."
Quintana (8-8) threw six innings and his only major mistake was Robinson Cano's 22nd home run in the fourth inning. And Quintana made key pitches when Seattle had runners in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Quintana struck out Cano to end the fifth with runners on the corners. In the sixth, Quintana gave up a leadoff single to Nelson Cruz and loaded the bases after a walk to Chris Iannetta and hitting Leonys Martin on the elbow with two outs. Quintana fell behind to Daniel Robertson, but got the young outfielder to fly out to center to end the threat.
"You kind of trust getting him through that point and the last guy you're giving him that guy knowing it's his last guy," Ventura said "He just has to fight through it."
Quintana allowed six hits in six innings and struck out seven. He's won his last three starts after going 0-7 over a span of nine starts from the middle of May until the end of June.
"A couple of innings I was in trouble, but I tried to make (the) critical pitch and get out of trouble," Quintana said.
Miley lost his fifth straight start, his last win coming on June 7. It was a better performance than his last start before the All-Star break where Miley allowed 10 hits and four runs against Kansas City, but he was unable to get through the seventh. Miley has completed at least seven innings just three times in 17 starts.
"I definitely thought that's the best that he's thrown the ball in a while, so that's a positive there," Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
PERFECT 'PEN
Zach Duke, Nate Jones and Carson Fulmer rolled through the final three innings for Chicago, retiring the last nine batters in order. Fulmer made his second relief appearance after being called up from Double-A Birmingham and transitioned from a starter to a reliever.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: C Alex Avila (hamstring) has started his rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. Avila was 1 for 2 with a double on Tuesday.
Mariners: SS Ketel Marte was out of the lineup for the second straight day with illness. Servais was hopeful Marte would be able to get back in the lineup on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Miguel Gonzalez (2-5) makes his 14th start of the season. Gonzalez is just 1-2 over his last three starts but has a 2.25 ERA during that time.
Mariners: Felix Hernandez (4-4) makes his first start since May 27 after landing on the DL with a calf injury. Hernandez had two rehab starts in the minors before returning to the rotation.
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