If you were to choose an outing to summarize Rick Porcello's season, Wednesday night's performance would not be a bad choice.
Porcello (L, 5-11), owner of a 5.81 ERA, yielded six runs for the seventh time this season, lasting just two innings while giving up 10 hits and five earned runs, three of which came in a disastrous second inning, putting Boston in a hole they could not climb out of. White Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera lead the charge with a 3-for-6 showing, scoring twice and driving home a run. Center fielder Adam Eaton went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs, while second baseman Carlos Sanchez went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run to lead Chicago to a 9-2 victory, the team's seventh in a row.
Starting pitcher Jose Quintana (W, 6-9) pitched 6.1 innings of six-hit, two-run ball for the White Sox, striking out three Boston batters. Surging Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli was able to muster a respectable 2-for-3 performance with an RBI double and a solo home run, however, outside of that Boston struggled to muster any offensive attack.
Chicago, who garnered 17 hits in the win, inflicted damage on Porcello instantly, with Eaton driving a solo home run to right to lead off the contest. Cabrera then singled with one out, and, following a flyout by first baseman Jose Abreu, designated hitter Adam LaRoche knocked a single to deep center, advancing Cabrera to second before a throwing error by Red Sox second baseman Brock Holt brought him home. This created an early 2-0 advantage for the White Sox right off of the bat.
Streaking Chicago, extended their lead to 5-0 in the second inning, with the majority of their offense coming with two outs on the board. Sanchez double with one out was followed by a strikeout by catcher Tyler Flowers, providing Porcello the opportunity to escape from the inning unscathed. However, Eaton deposited a two-out offering from the right-hander to center for an RBI single. Cabrera knocked an RBI single two batters later, and, after a walk to Abreu loaded the bases, Porcello hit LaRoche with a pitch, bringing home the fifth run of the game for the White Sox.
The damage was not finished, however, as shortstop Alexei Ramirez proceeded to lead off the third inning with a solo shot to left center, increasing the gap to 6-0 and prompting Red Sox manager John Farrell to remove the scuffling Porcello from the contest.
Boston was able to recover a run in the bottom of the fourth off of Quintana, however, as a two-out double off of the Green Monster by Napoli scored shortstop Xander Bogaerts, the White Sox only pushed their lead forward in the seventh inning facing left-handed reliever Tommy Layne.
With one out, right fielder Avisail Garcia reached on an infield single and moved to third on a subsequent double down the left field line by Ramirez. Sanchez then grounded out to third, scoring Garcia, and Flowers followed with an RBI single to left, allowing Ramirez to jog home to increase the Chicago lead to 8-1.
After Napoli closed the gap to 8-2 with a solo home run into the light stanchion on top of the Green Monster in the bottom of the stanza off of Quintana, the White Sox recovered the run instantly off of Boston reliever Alexi Ogando. After third baseman Tyler Saladino struck out to begin the eighth inning, Cabrera lined a double off of the outstretched glove of center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. in left-center, coming home to score on the ensuing RBI single by Abreu.
The White Sox will trot out ace Chris Sale (9-5) to the mound Thursday night at Fenway Park against struggling knuckleballer Steven Wright (3-4), looking to complete the four-game series sweep.