Pitching, defense working wonders for White Sox

11:40 AM ET

CHICAGO — It was just another Friday night for the Chicago White Sox. Just another shutout. Just a triple play pulled off that nobody had ever seen to squelch a Rangers rally. Just another win, as the White Sox stayed even with the defending world champion Royals for most in the league in the early going. And just another one-game answer to the full-season question over whether this team might just have what it takes to win now.

How are the White Sox doing it? Setting aside the usual “it’s not quite three weeks of games, it doesn’t mean anything, yada yada yada,” let’s identify a bunch of reasons that suggest it does mean something, give some credit where credit is due, and identify the strengths they’re winning with now and why those reasons might not go away once the weather — and the pennant races — heat up.

Let’s start with the rotation because with Friday’s 5-0 win over the Rangers, the White Sox notched their MLB-leading fourth shutout of the season — in games started by four different starters. The Sox previously blanked opponents in starts by ace Chris Sale, young gun Carlos Rodon, and retread Mat Latos, but this time around it was Jose Quintana’s turn to line up goose-eggs.

Jose Quintana threw seven shutout innings on Friday to lower his ERA to 1.82.in three starts this season. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

“Love it, just love it,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Especially if the offense isn’t clicking well and the way it’s been going, you get guys pitching at that clip, you’re able to scratch something across. The defense has been great, they’re not afraid to pitch to contact and let it happen.

“Love it,” Ventura reiterated. “Don’t like it, love it.”

The White Sox lead the American League in quality starts with 13, trailing just their north-side neighbors as the Cubs already have 15. Reflecting the staff-wide effort, even with Sale throwing a quality start in each of his first four turns, the rest of the staff has thrown nine more in their 13 starts.

This might be the year that Quintana really gets to shine. While logging three straight seasons making at least 32 starts from 2013 through 2015, he never has won more than nine games thanks to poor run support. From 2013 through Friday night’s win, Quintana has made 66 quality starts in 101 turns, but he has had to take an MLB-leading 15 losses in a quality start during that time, a mark that’s tied with teammate Sale, Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. …

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