@Red Sox 3, White Sox 1: “Distinction’s nice, but next time just gimme the W.” When Cody Ross clubbed an inside fastball from Addison Reed for the most dramatic of his two-day, 3-run HR binge, it snatched a well-earned win away from ChiSox rookie Jose Quintana, who tossed 8 scoreless frames. But it did give him a unique(?) distinction:

• It was the third time this year (in just 10 starts) that Quintana got nothing in return for a clutch of eight goose eggs. He’s the only pitcher since at least 1918 with 3 no-decisions of 8+ IP & no runs in one year. (All further distinctions are understood to be since 1918, the first year of searchable game data on B-R.)

This year there have been just 8 other no-decisions of that kind, by 8 different pitchers. Out of 85 starts of 8+ scoreless innings by all other pitchers, 77 were rewarded with a win.

• There are 52 other pitchers with at least 3 such no-decisions in their career (tops is 7 by Greg Maddux and Don Sutton), but none of those pitchers got there in less than 48 games (Rich Harden).

If we take out the no-decision criterion and focus just on the 8-frame blanking:

• Quintana is just the 14th with 3 such games within his first 12 career outings. Tops is 5 by Tom Phoebus of the 1966-67 Orioles.
• 15 others have at least 2 such games this year, including Quintana’s teammate Chris Sale. Every other guy with at least 2 such games got at least one win.
• Of all the pitchers with an 8-inning whitewash this year, only 3 were younger than Quintana (23.145 on the day of his first such game): Henderson Alvarez, 22.016; Madison Bumgarner, 22.332; and Sale, 23.071 in his first.

On Thursday, Quintana had an answer for each BoSox threat: he followed Pedro Ciriaco‘s 2-out triple with a 3-pitch whiff of Jacoby Ellsbury; when 3 straight singles filled the bags with 1 gone in the 7th, he got a DP grounder from Will Middlebrooks; and after his wild pitch put the tying run in scoring position with 2 down in the 8th, he got Ellsbury again, this time on a groundout. Quintana used just 103 pitches and became the first this year to go 8 against Boston without a walk. He’s given just 1 walk in his four 8-IP starts combined, and his season average of 1.66 BB/9 ranks 8th among AL pitchers with 60+ IP.

• The last pitcher with 4 starts of 8+ IP within his first 12 career games was a lad now known as King Felix, back in 2005.

A sadder saga is that of Bobby Madritsch, the only other pitcher since 1999 with four 8-IP games among his first 12. He debuted with Seattle in July 2004 at age 28, after a long slog through the affiliated and independent minors. Three scoreless relief outings earned him a shot in the rotation, and he reeled off 5 straight starts of 7+ IP (4 team wins). USA Today took notice. After one blip, Madritsch resumed his run with two more games of 8+, and closed out the year tossing 133 pitches in his first complete game.

Madritsch made the 2005 Opening Day roster and started the 3rd game. He retired the first 10 men before a bunt single; he lost the shutout that same inning on a home run. In the 5th, Madritsch threw a pitch to Mike Redmond and something gave way in his shoulder. He left the game, and except for 2 brief appearances in the Atlantic League 3 years later, his pro career was over.

(But besides sympathy, why do I go on about Madritsch? The man who bunted for the first hit in Madritsch’s final game is the same one who scored Boston’s winning run on Thursday: Nick Punto.)

Here’s to the good health of Quintana, Sale, and all the other young pitchers who’ve thrilled us this year.