Quentin seals comeback win

CHICAGO - Ozzie Guillen already was packing for this weekend's road trip when he saw it on the TV screen in the clubhouse. Ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Rob Drake in a game that perhaps showed both the best and the worst of the White Sox, the manager watched Carlos Quentin's three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth that provided the go-ahead run sail over the left-center field fence. And after all the issues the Sox had leading up to Guillen's ejection in front of 35,353 fans at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday - a rookie pitcher, poor fielding and little hitting - that blast, Quentin's second of the game, restored some swagger. Tuesday's win against the Rangers was imperative, ending a three-game losing streak. But Wednesday's 10-8 come-from-behind victory to close the series was more than that. It was swagger-saving. “It's great to finish up like this,” Guillen said. “We [will] come back after having a day off [today] and start a big road trip. This should push those guys up. It should give them some [confidence]. “ Š They can play without me, but I can't manage without them. Š I was packing my clothes for the road trip and I see [Quentin's shot]. All three times I get thrown out we win [on] grand slam, home run to win, I tell you, I will donate a lot of money [in fines] if it means that we win.” And this, for much of it, did not look like a game the Sox would win. Clayton Richard made his first major league start Wednesday and, although he pitched well, fanning seven, he scattered seven hits and allowed two runs in the fourth that gave the Rangers a 5-3 advantage. But the Sox didn't help their hurler out much. Four fielding errors, a single-game season high, made the Sox look sloppy. The Rangers' bullpen kept the Sox in check when starter Kevin Millwood left the game after 1 1/3 innings with a sore right groin. Josh Rupe and Warner Madrigal combined to hold the Sox to one hit through six innings after relieving Millwood. “The beginning of the game was a challenge for us,” Quentin said. “You have to give them credit. Their bullpen pitched great. But as a team, we acknowledged that we had an opportunity to grind it out and we did.” The Sox trailed, 8-4, when Guillen was ejected. “It fired us up a little bit,” Nick Swisher said. “I said this at Wrigley [Field, during the Cubs-Sox series in late June], too, but as soon as the crowd turns in our favor, special things happen.” Jermaine Dye knocked a double to deep left field, scoring Orlando Cabrera to close the deficit, 8-5. The Sox's five-run eighth, capped by Quentin's second home run, sealed the seemingly unlikely victory. Dye and second baseman Alexei Ramirez each came up with big fielding plays, as well, adding drama to the comeback. In the seventh, Ramirez' quick catch off his glove and light toss to Paul Konerko at first to get Hank Blalock out gave the Sox their second out of the inning and kept Milton Bradley at third. Dye's diving catch in right field gave the Sox their second out in the eighth. “That made up for how bad they played early in the game,” Guillen quipped. The win caps a mediocre homestand in which the Sox finished 3-3. They now head to Detroit for a three-game series beginning Friday. They face the Twins in Minnesota next week, as well. With a 2 1/2-game lead on the Twins, who lost Wednesday to the Yankees, and a 5 1/2-game lead on the Tigers, who swept the Royals, Guillen stressed again after the game that these next seven games are crucial to maintaining first place and certainly to keeping their swagger. “I don't want to put pressure on my players, but we have to,” Guillen said. “We can't deny it.”