Things couldn’t have gone much better for Jose Quintana in his return to a major-league mound for the first time since spring training.
Quintana looked cool, calm and collected Tuesday night in his first appearance out of the bullpen for the Cubs — three plus-innings in a 7-1 loss to the Tigers in Detroit.
The left-hander quickly found a rhythm, working a 1-2-3 third inning. He then worked a seven-pitch fourth. After allowing a single to open the frame, he struck out Victor Reyes before getting an inning-ending double-play ball.
“I thought [Quintana] looked really sharp,” manager David Ross said.