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Quentin's walk-off homer lifts White Sox past Angels

May 26, 2008 - 3:41 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Carlos Quentin's walk-off home run in the ninth inning - his second blast of the night - gave the Chicago White Sox a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Leading off the bottom of the ninth with the score knotted at 2-2, Quentin sent a 1-1 offering from Angels starter John Lackey (1-1) over the left-center field wall to give the White Sox the win.

"I've never hit a game-ending home run like that," Quentin said.

Quentin also hit a two-run shot in the third inning and Jose Contreras tossed eight stellar frames with 10 strikeouts for the White Sox, who have won nine of their last 11 contests.

"After the day he had today on national TV, it's obviously going to help him a lot," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Quentin. "I don't think he wants national attention. He's going to have my attention to win games for me.

"The way I looked at it, and I keep saying this, is he has proved me wrong. I didn't even know who he was when we traded for him. (General manager) Kenny (Williams) told me if this kid is healthy he's going to help you to win games."

The home runs made a winner of reliever Scott Linebrink (2-0), who tossed a scoreless ninth in relief of Contreras.

"I think the whole game just felt like any hit was big," Quentin said. "Getting a guy on base was big. I think their team, as well as ours, just had that sense the way the pitchers were throwing. It was our seventh game against them and it felt the same way in Anaheim. It seemed like every run was big."

While Guillen was elated with the play of Quentin as well as avoiding a series sweep, he couldn't come away entirely pleased after the White Sox hit just .214 (39-of-182) during the six-game homestand that ended with this win.

"He's fun to watch," Guillen said of Quentin. "I cannot wait until those other guys start helping him. Our ballclub is pretty heavy. This guy is carrying the load.

"A couple guys in there have to start hitting the ball better and help this kid to win some games. We cannot rely on Carlos Quentin to win games. There's so much inconsistency at the plate."

Contreras departed after allowing two runs and three hits with no walks over eight innings. It marked the fourth time in his career that the Cuban righthander struck out 10 or more. He has allowed two runs or less each of his last four starts.

Lackey, who started the season on the disabled list due to a strained right triceps, threw a complete game in his third start of the season. He walked one, struck out three and gave up six hits.

"John pitched a great game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "For the last 10 games or so, we haven't swung the bats well at all. It's hard to win when you only have a couple hits. John gave us a chance to win but we couldn't get it done."

The teams traded two-run homers earlier in the game, which took only two hours, five minutes to play.

The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the third when Alexei Ramirez led off with a single to center and Quentin hit a two-out home run to left-center field. He now has 14 blasts on the season.

The Angels, who had only three hits for the game, tied it after Maicer Izturis led off the fourth with a single and Gary Matthews Jr. followed with a two-run home run just over the right field fence.