Diary of a Chicago Sports Fan

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Bulls lose in the 4th quarter, again, Quintana wins and Lester loses

The Bulls kept it close form a long time before losing game 5 of their series to the Celtics 108-97. The Bulls were blown out in the 4^th quarter by a margin of 29-16. That's been a characteristic of this Bulls team all year.

It's like Clark Kent and Superman

Dwyane Wade had a great line of 26-11-8 but alternated between looking great at times and an old man at other times. In addition, Robin Lopez had stretches of great play, and at other times, not so much. I don't yell at the TV too much, but when I saw a Celtic driving to the hoop while Robin was helping another Celtic to his feet, well, I didn't like that. Soon after that, Robin committed a dumb technical.

The Quiet Man

Jimmy Butler had a quiet line of 14-8-6. That's not enough. Of course, there are reasons why the Celtics are a 1 and the Bulls are an 8. Having Fred Hoiberg for a coach isn't helping the Bulls either.

A refreshing change

The White Sox finally scored some runs for Jose Quintana and it resulted in a 5-2 Sox win over the Kansas City Royals.  Jose left with a 4-2 lead. The win completed a three game sweep for the Sox.

Quintana went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. He walked 2 while striking out 5. The win raised Jose's record to 1-4. Dan Jennings, Tommy Kahnle, Nate Jones and David Robertson combined for 3 scoreless innings of relief. Robertson picked up his 5^th save in 5 tries.

Take a bow, Don Cooper

The Sox bullpen has been excellent so far. It reminds of last year's pen before the wheels came off. I hope we don't have a replay of that this year. I saw on CBS Sports that despite the loss of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana's slow start, the Sox have the best ERA in baseball at 2.92. Don't look for that to last.

That Avisailed out of there

Avisail Garcia once again had the big blow for the Sox. His 2 run homer in the 7^th put the Sox up 4-2. It went an estimated 451 feet. Leury Garcia added an insurance run with a solo homer in the 7^th. Leury Garcia has been getting some play in center field and hitting surprisingly well. That position had previo9usly been a black hole offensively. 

A Hawkism that applies here

The win puts the Sox at 11-9. In the words of Hawk Harrelson, “Don't stop now boys.”

Maybe next time

Chicago baseball's other winless left handed ace, Jon Lester, got the start for the Cubs against the pirates. Sadly, Jon's still winless. Lester got hit early, giving up 5 runs in the first 2 innings. He ultimately gave up 6 runs in 5.2 innings.

Brizzo on a roll

It felt like the Cubs would get back in the game but they just couldn't get the big hit to put them over the top. Anthony Rizzo's 2 run homer pulled the Cubs to within one at 6-5, but a 9^th inning rally fell short. The Cubs had 2 on with one out when Albert Almora Jr. grounded into a double play to end the game.

Anthony Rizzo continues to be hot. For the game Rizzo had a homer, 2 hits and 4 RBIs. Kris Bryant added 3 hits to raise his average to .282 after a slow start.

More next time.