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Quentin homers twice, leads Floyd, White Sox

Jul 6, 2010 - 3:16 AM CHICAGO(AP) -- Most times, Carlos Quentin's performance at the plate would have had everybody talking. This time, his glovework caught everyone's attention.

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.

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

"To me, the best thing we had today even though we scored a lot of runs, the play he made in the outfield in the first inning. I think he gave us fire in the dugout," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "That play and then we scored early set the table. That play got everybody pumped up and Gavin turned to pitch very well."

Quentin was sore after the play, but stayed in the game and had one of his best offensive performances of the season.

"That hurt quite a bit. That was one of the most painful," Quentin said.

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. Floyd is 2-1 with a 1.27 ERA in his last six starts.

"We played some great defense tonight. Carlos' (catch) I think that was a momentum builder for me and the same thing for the team. He made that play and it pumped us up, just all around good defense and we scored some runs, that helps," Floyd said.

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

"We got in at 5 this morning. We were sleepwalking playing," Hunter said. "Gavin pitched a great game. Even when we're not sleepwalking he was nasty. Just imagine facing him when you getting in 5 in the morning. You can't sleep. Go to bed 6:30. Try to rest and come here to play. It's pretty tough. No excuses."

"We just looked bad. Didn't know how many outs there were at one point," he said.

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.

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.

The White Sox starting pitchers are 15-5 with a 2.69 ERA in the last 25 games.

"I think if our pitching staff stays on the same level, that's our hope. If not we're going to be up and down, but if it stays on the same level, we can compete," Guillen said.

Quentin hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning and a 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.

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.

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.

"Couple of pitches that I left up I thought were pretty good, but they made me pay," Kazmir said.

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. ... 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.