CHICAGO — Carlos Quentin doesn’t want the attention. The way he’s playing, he can’t avoid it.

Quentin led off the ninth with his second homer off John Lackey, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 to avoid a three-game sweep on Sunday night.

“Why talk about that?” Quentin wondered.

He preferred to talk about Jose Contreras, who had another fine outing.

“That’s the story of the night,” Quentin said.

He wanted to talk about a 4-2 homestand: “Awesome. Winning record.”

But those homers? His emergence? Quentin seemed rather uninterested, although he did say he’d never hit a game-ending homer.

He had a two-run shot in the third and ended the game by driving a 1-1 pitch from Lackey (1-1) to the seats in left-center.

“I was trying to throw a two seamer, trying to run it down and in a little bit,” Lackey said. “I just didn’t get it in.”

Quentin quickly rounded the bases, tossing his helmet as he passed third, and got mobbed at the plate as the White Sox ended the homestand with their ninth win in 11 games after scoring just one run through the first two of this series. Moments later, he got a pie in the face from Jermaine Dye while being interviewed.

The homer made a winner of Scott Linebrink (2-0), who pitched a perfect ninth after Contreras threw eight strong innings.

The multihomer game was Quentin’s second this season and the third in his career. His 14 homers lead the American League, he had three of the White Sox’s six hits and he’s batting .301 after being limited by injuries last year with Arizona.

“This kid, the way I look at it, he proved me wrong,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I didn’t even know who he was when we traded for him, but (general manager Kenny Williams) told me if this kid’s healthy, he’s going to help you win games.”

While Quentin came through at the plate, Contreras continued to pitch the way he did in 2006 when he made the All-Star team. He allowed just two runs and three hits, including a two-run homer by Gary Matthews Jr., while striking out 10 and walking none. It was his fourth double-digit strikeout game and his first since June 17, 2006, when he had 13 in six innings against Cincinnati on June 17, 2006.

Lackey, meanwhile, struck out three and walked one.

A 19-game winner last season, he is easing any concerns about his arm after beginning the season on the disabled list with a strained right triceps. The only glitches were to Quentin. He drove a 1-0 pitch out to center with two out in the third to make it 2-0, after Alexei Ramirez led off with a single.

Also on Sunday:

American League

Athletics 6

Red Sox 3

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jack Cust hit a two-run homer as the Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champions. Joe Blanton (3-6) labored through six inconsistent innings, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out seven.

Rangers 2

Indians 1

CLEVELAND — Right fielder Ben Francisco misplayed a simple single into a costly error in the 10th, enabling Jarrod Saltalamacchia to score from first base with the winning run. Jamey Wright (3-1) worked two scoreless innings.

Yankees 6

Mariners 5

NEW YORK — Jose Molina hit a two-out RBI double to cap a four-run eighth inning, and the Yankees rallied for their fifth straight victory. The Yankees won consecutive series for the first time this season, while the Mariners have lost a season-worst six games in a row.

Blue Jays 3

Royals 1

TORONTO — Shannon Stewart drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice, Dustin McGowan won for the first time in four starts and the Royals have now lost seven straight. McGowan (3-4) allowed one run and nine hits in seven innings to win for the first time since May 5 against Cleveland.

Twins 6

Tigers 1

DETROIT — Jason Kubel hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning and Glen Perkins shut down Detroit’s offense to take two of three in the series. Perkins (2-1) allowed a run and seven hits in 723 innings, walking two and striking out four.

Rays 5

Orioles 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria drove in the winning run with a double in the ninth inning, giving the Rays a three-game sweep of the Orioles. Troy Percival (1-0) got the final two outs in the ninth for the win.

National League

Rockies 4

Mets 1

DENVER — Seth Smith, hit his first major league homer, a three-run shot off John Maine to back an impressive start by Aaron Cook (7-3). The right-hander allowed four hits, all singles, in his seventh career complete game and first since July 25.

Phillies 15

Astros 6

HOUSTON— Chase Utley and Shane Victorino each had three RBIs for the Phillies, who finished with 16 hits after Houston’s Chris Sampson allowed five through five innings. Fernando Nieve (0-1), called up from the minors on May 16, gave up four hits and two runs without recording an out in the sixth.

Pirates 6

Cubs 5

PITTSBURGH — Jason Bay beat the Cubs with an extra-inning single for the second day in the row, delivering a two-out line drive down the left field line in the 11th after Pittsburgh tied it on a dropped fly ball in the ninth.

Diamondbacks 9

Braves 3

ATLANTA — Eric Byrnes hit his first career grand slam to knock Tom Glavine out of the game and power the Diamondbacks past Atlanta. Byrnes’ slam was only the second allowed by Glavine in his 22 major league seasons.

Marlins 8-5

Giants 6-4

MIAMI — Dan Uggla hit a bases-loaded, two-out single in the ninth inning to give Florida a doubleheader sweep against San Francisco. Uggla also hit one of four homers for the NL East leaders in the opener. San Francisco’s Omar Vizquel played his 2,584th game at shortstop, breaking the major league record previously held by fellow Venezuelan Luis Aparicio.

Nationals 7

Brewers 6

WASHINGTON — Elijah Dukes scored on Guillermo Mota’s ninth-inning wild pitch, giving the Nationals a victory over Milwaukee. Aaron Boone homered for the Nationals, who squandered a 6-0 lead after five innings.

Dodgers 4

Cardinals 3

LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier singled home the winning run in the 10th inning and Luis Maza hit his first big league homer, leading Los Angeles over St. Louis. Russell Martin drove in two runs and touted prospect Clayton Kershaw pitched six effective innings for the Dodgers in his major league debut, striking out seven.

Padres 12

Reds 9

SAN DIEGO — Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 18th inning to give San Diego the win. It was the fourth time the Padres played at least 13 innings this season. Josh Banks (1-0) scattered five hits over six innings for the win.