Jesse Crain Rumors & News

The rule of thumb for Jose Quintana is confusing, but simple: He's allowed to throw shutout baseball as long as he doesn't complete seven innings -- otherwise, he stands no shot at getting the win (0-for-4 lifetime). He looked like he was going to challenge that curse when he took a no-hitter into the seventh. But David Ortiz broke it up with a one-out single, and two singles after that loaded the bases. With Quintana over 100 pitches and hitting the wall, Robin Ventura called for Jesse Crain. Crain struck out Will Middlebrooks with a 3-2 slider out of the zone for out No. 2. He only g...

In an uneven year for the White Sox bullpen, Jesse Crain has been the rock, which is only surprising because he missed so much time in spring training with the bad adductor. It's never a matter of stuff, because Crain is doubly blessed with both a big arm, and an arsenal that he can reshape as years go by. He went from riding his big fastball early in his career to being a slider-first pitcher by the time he joined the Sox. Now he's relying on the heat more thanks to the big overhand curve. J.J. talked to Crain and other Sox players about the way he's using the fastball/curve combo, ...

When Robin Ventura called for Donnie Veal to face Joe Mauer with runners on the corners and two outs in the seventh inning on Sunday, any garden-variety dolt stood a good chance of predicting the outcome. Case in point: Chances are we'll see Jesse Crain with the bases loaded this inning. — South Side Sox (@SouthSideSox) April 21, 2013 In Hawk Harrelson parlance, that didn't take long. Ventura threw Veal against die Mauer. Veal issued a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Ventura called for Crain. Crain gave up a bases-clearing double to Josh Willingham, and the ballgame was in effec...

Matt Lindstrom and Donnie Veal had their own issues. So when Jesse Crain took the mound as the third pitcher for the White Sox in the top of the seventh, it's not like what followed could be placed solely on his shoulders. But he was sent out to protect a 2-2 tie with the bases loaded. He didn't do it. Josh Willingham cut on Crain's first pitch, a hanging breaking ball, and dropped it off the base of the center field wall. Willingham's double cleared the bases, the Twins took a 5-2 lead, and it was a lead they didn't relinquish. If you were at the stop light next to me when Willingham'...

Matt Thornton pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep a scoreless game all locked up. Unfortunately, Thornton Luck showed up an inning later to undermine Jesse Crain. Nick Swisher kept a first-pitch fastball inside the right-field line to drive in the game-winning run, three batters after Michael Bourn doubled on a jamshot blooper down the left-field line. Crain made good pitchers, and but only came out with a loss to show for it. Still, Jose Quintana was the bigger victim tonight. Four times in his young career now, Quintana has thrown seven or more scoreless innings. All four times, hi...

Seattle Mariners' Kyle Seager slams down his bat after striking out off a pitch from Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Jesse Crain during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Friday, April 5, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

After Jesse Crain couldn't retire three Indians before hitting his 25-pitch limit on Wednesday, his optimism didn't surprise me, but Robin Ventura's did. Crain didn't have much in the way of life or location, and Cleveland hitters pasted him accordingly. But after his scoreless inning against the Brewers on Friday, I'm on board the Opening Day Express. Crain looked like his old self. He allowed an infield single -- a weak grounder that hit third base -- but erased it with a strikeout of Carlos Gomez and a double-play ball. He blew two fastballs by Gomez, and his slider induced a couple...

The longest spring ever comes to a close today, but a couple questions may linger into the exhibition series in Milwaukee, if not all the way until Opening Day. Chief among them, nothing has changed with Alex Rios (back) and Jesse Crain (adductor). Rios missed a fourth straight game on Tuesday, and there's mixed messages abound in Daryl Van Schouwen's assessment until it closes with a declaration from Rios: "I'm going to be ready." Crain, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear in today's game to test his hip. It's not a make-or-break outing unless he experiences a clear setback, because it ...