Quentin homers twice, leads Floyd, White Sox

[July 06, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Carlos Quentin hit two late home runs and Gavin Floyd pitched seven solid innings to lead the Chicago White Sox over the Los Angeles Angels 9-2 Monday night.

Dayan Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez also homered for the White Sox. Viciedo hit his first major league homer, connecting off Angels starter Scott Kazmir in the seventh inning.

White Sox reliever Sergio Santos preserved a 7-2 lead in the eighth when he came in and struck out pinch-hitter Mike Napoli with the bases loaded. Santos worked the ninth for his first career save.

Floyd (4-7) gave up one run and five hits, and won back-to-back starts for the first time this season. He has only allowed six earned runs in his last six starts.

Kazmir (7-8) lost his third straight start. He was tagged for seven runs on six hits.

Paul Konerko and Brent Lillibridge hit a pair of two-out RBI singles for the White Sox, who were 9 1/2 games out of first on June 9. Since then, they have won 19 of their last 24 to challenge for the AL Central lead.

Howie Kendrick had three hits for Angels, who lost for just fourth time in their last 16 road games.

Quentin hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning and solo home run in eighth. It was his eighth career multihome run game, the last coming June 23 against Atlanta. He has seven home runs and 16 RBIs in his last 13 games.

Quentin also made a spectacular diving catch in right field in the first inning. With Kendrick on second and two outs, Quentin robbed Torii Hunter of extra bases on the warning track. Quentin received a standing ovation as he jogged back to the dugout.

Ramirez homered in the first, the second straight day he's connected. Andruw Jones walked in the second, stole second and scored on Lillibridge's two-out single.

Hunter made his first error of the season in the fifth inning. The All-Star, who has won nine straight Gold Glove, dropped Viciedo's fly ball for his first error since Sept. 18, 2009.

Juan Pierre led off the sixth with a walk and scored on Konerko's single. Quentin hit Kazmir's pitch that was nearly in the dirt into Chicago's left-field bullpen to give the White Sox a 5-1 lead.

After Viciedo's homer in the seventh, Ramirez had an RBI single off Angels reliever Rich Thompson to make it 7-1.

Bobby Jenks, pitching for the first time since June 24, allowed one run on one hit and two walks while getting two outs. He was on the bereavement list from June 27-July 2.

Quentin's second home run came off Thompson in the eighth. It was his 15th of the season and Viciedo added an RBI single.

NOTES: For the first time this season, Hideki Matsui made back-to-back starts in the field. He made a nice, over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track on A.J. Pierzynski's fly to left field in the second. Angels LF Juan Rivera was out of the lineup for the sixth game straight game with blurred vision. Angels manager Mike Scioscia expects Rivera to back in the lineup on Tuesday. ... With one out in the fourth, the Angels turned a double play to end the inning, but most of the players in the field were unaware the inning was over until being signaled off the field by the umpires. ... White Sox 3B Omar Vizquel was out of the lineup after taking a pitch off his left knee in Sunday's win over Texas. Vizquel said the knee is swollen and he is day-to-day.

[Associated Press]

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