NEW YORK -- Time for Jose Quintana to find a new four-leaf clover or lucky horseshoe.
His bad luck seems to have resurfaced.
Even though he lowered his earned-run average to 2.13, Quintana earned a fourth straight loss on Monday afternoon as the White Sox dropped a 1-0 decision to the New York Mets. Quintana yielded a seventh-inning home run to Neil Walker, his only blemish in a sturdy seven-inning performance, but was outpitched by Matt Harvey. The defeat dropped Quintana’s record to 5-5.
“This is stuff we see out of him all the time,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “If we could score, he’d have a better record, and everybody would know his name.”
Quintana made it evident early on he was capable of stopping a White Sox losing streak that now stands at seven. He struck out four in a row, including the side in the second inning.
The left-hander, whose streak of 34 straight starts with four or fewer runs allowed is tied with Jake Arrieta for the longest active streak in the majors, induced an inning-ending double play in the fourth. He faced only three over the minimum through six innings and matched zeroes with Harvey.
But Walker came through in the seventh inning and attached an undeserved ‘L’ to Quintana’s name in the box score. During his four-game losing streak, Quintana has a 3.41 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.
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“I’m sure he could easily have a much better record over the course of his career if he had a little bit more run support for sure,” catcher Alex Avila said. “But credit to him, he keeps going out there and pitching good games.”
The loss dropped Quintana’s career record to 38-39 despite a 3.35 ERA in 815 innings. Fifteen of those losses have come since the beginning of the 2015 season even though Quintana has a 3.04 ERA in those 43 starts. He’s 14-15 in that span.
The grand total of support Quintana has received in those losses --- 16, including one run or fewer over 12 starts.
While he was speaking about the team after Monday’s loss, Quintana might as well have been discussing himself.
“Right now, we try to get a first win,” Quintana said. “We try to forget everything, the losses, and start again. Tomorrow we’ll try to get the first win.”