Before the game, I hoped and expected to see Humber be efficient with his pitches and last deep into the game. Well that he did! Philip Humber threw the 21st Perfect Game in MLB history. Mark down, April 21, 2012, the 21st time a pitcher went out and got out 27 consecutive batters in a game. He now joins Mark Buehrle and Charles Robertson as pitchers to achieve the feat as members of the Chicago White Sox.
White Sox: 4
Mariners: 0
Early on Humber looked good. Working through the lineup and making Mariners hitters look pretty helpless. Hard hit balls did not come often. A shot to right corralled by Rios and a liner to left that defensive replacement Brent Lillibridge pulled in. Humber struck out 9 batters…his breaking stuff was working. There you have your understatement of the day.
Runs have to be scored on the other end for a perfecto to be complete. The Sox obliged, plating 3 runs early on, a solo homerun from Paul Konerko in the 2nd and a pair crossed the plate in the 3rd courtesy of Paulie and AJ. Alejandro De Aza in a show of little faith for his team’s esteemed fifth starter went ahead and added an insurance tally in the 9th.
Putting anything in words right now is a little bit tough without stringing together multiple paragraphs of exclamation points and holding of the shift key (my caps lock is broken). Perhaps to get it out of the system: Philip Humber JUST THREW A M%@##F%#@% PERFECT GAME!!!!!!!!!!
Plus: PERFECT GAME!
Minus: To those that may say, “well it’s the Seattle Mariners.” To that I respond, the Mariners play 162 games pretty much every year, and they’re not handing out perfectos upon arrival. It’s a PERFECT GAME!
Tipping Point:
My eyes – PERFECT Game!
The numbers – The numbers say Paul Konerko’s homerun, a 12.2% Win Expectancy increase.
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