White Sox fall to Orioles 3-1 to extend skid to 7

The Chicago White Sox have endured 83 defeats this season, and now it's gotten to the point where it's difficult to distinguish one loss from another.

Jose Quintana gave up three home runs and the White Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 Thursday night, extending their skid to seven games.

Dayan Viciedo had two singles for the White Sox, who went 0-3 in Boston and dropped three more at Yankee Stadium before arriving at Camden Yards. Chicago is an AL-worst 24-49 on the road and 32-48 in games decided by one or two runs.

''We've played that type of game a lot this year and just couldn't score enough runs to win,'' said Paul Konerko, who went 0 for 4. ''We try not to think about how other games have gone, but the end result is you can lump this in with the rest of them.''

Asked why the White Sox have struggled on the road this season, Konerko replied, ''I don't know what the home record is either, but I'm sure it's all (bad).''

Quintana (7-6) allowed seven hits in seven innings, but that included solo homers by Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy and Brian Roberts. The right-hander had allowed only four long balls in his previous 10 starts.

''He was all right,'' manager Robin Ventura said. ''The three homers are the ones that got him, but other than that he was pretty sharp.''

Not as sharp as Miguel Gonzalez (9-7), who allowed one run over seven innings to earn his first win since July 20. He was 0-4 during that span.

Jones' shot in the first inning gave him 30 home runs for the season and 100 RBIs for the first time. Hardy and Roberts connected in the fifth, increasing Baltimore's major league-leading home run total to 188.

''We didn't put together a ton of hits, but the way the pitching and defense was tonight, three was enough,'' Hardy said.

Gonzalez gave up four hits - all singles - walked one and struck out six.

''A lot of guys we're talking about his stuff,'' Konerko said. ''I actually got good pitches to hit, pitches I was looking for in counts. I just took bad swings. But I know a lot guys were saying his ball was jumping well and all that.''

Tommy Hunter allowed a single in the eighth and Jim Johnson worked a perfect ninth for his 42nd save.

Down 1-0, the White Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the third but got only one run, on a double-play grounder by Alejandro De Aza.

''That was our spot,'' Ventura said. ''I mean Gonzalez pitched well, really pitching from behind well. He spotted off-speed stuff and hit his counts. We got him in that situation, he gets a double play to really give himself a breather and get out of it.''

Hardy put Baltimore in front for good in the fifth with a leadoff homer on a 2-2 pitch, and with two outs Roberts homered on a full count. Hardy's drive made him the ninth player since 1901 to have three seasons with at least 25 home runs as a shortstop.

NOTES: The Orioles activated RHP Jason Hammel (flexor strain) from the DL, recalled RHP Steve Johnson from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned LHP Zach Britton to Single-A Aberdeen. ... Chicago C Tyler Flowers underwent shoulder surgery Thursday to clean up his rotator cuff and labrum. No structural damage was found. Recovery time is approximately 2-3 months. ... Baltimore RF Nick Markakis did not start after going 6 for 36 on the road trip, but he entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. ... Scott Feldman starts for the Orioles on Friday night against John Danks (4-11), who earned one of his four wins this season against Baltimore on July 2. ... Ventura on being the spoiler: ''There's no extra incentive that you're a spoiler but I think we do have guys that are looking toward next year, trying to do something just to get noticed or send a positive note out there.'' ... The crowd of 17,383 pushed attendance at Camden Yards over 2 million on the 68th home date.