On most days, Jose Quintana's performance would have been more than enough to notch his seventh straight win.
The 30-year-old southpaw set a new personal strikeout record with 14 whiffs through six innings Tuesday night in Philadelphia, but instead it went down as another chapter in the book that is the Cubs' road woes.
The bats —from Nicholas Castellanos — went quiet and the bullpen gave up a pair of runs and the end result was a 4-2 loss, running the Cubs' record away from Wrigley Field to 23-36 on the season. It also marks the first time the Cubs lost in a Quintana start in nearly two months (June 22).
With the gem, Quintana became only the second Cubs pitcher ever to whiff at least 14 guys through six innings, joining Kerry Wood (who accomplished the feat on April 27, 2001):
It's also only the second time since 1908 a Cubs southpaw has notched 14 strikeouts:
Here are all 14 of those whiffs:
Since he gave up 8 earned runs in 3 innings in his first start of the season April 5 in Milwaukee, Quintana has posted a 3.78 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 128.2 innings. In those 22 outings, he's turned in 13 quality starts and allowed more than 3 earned runs just three times.
He's been even better his last eight times out, posting a 3.40 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 7.1 K/BB (50 strikeouts vs. 7 walks) since he was battered around by the Mets on June 22 (8 runs allowed in 4.1 innings).
MLB
Quintana's 4.11 season ERA won't put him in the NL Cy Young conversation this season, but in an era where balls are flying out of the yard at a record pace, it certainly positions him ahead of the curve (MLB average ERA is 4.52 this year).
Not bad for a fifth starter.
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