Humber Gets Win, is Still a Problem
By Matt Adams
Alex Rios continues to propel the offense, what has gotten into him I could not tell you, but 2 more hits helped boost the Sox over Philip Humber’s continued struggles to stop the losing streak at 3. It would appear that the Sox like the 1.5 game distance because that’s where most of their first place tenure has been enjoyed. After a Saturday night victory at Chavez Ravine, they’ll enter Sunday’s action right where they want to be.
White Sox (35-30): 5
Dodgers (41-25): 4
On Friday Robin Ventura’s patience with Chris Sale was a point of aggravation, on Saturday night he extended the same courtesy to Philip Humber, who let 4 runs across in the 3rd after struggling as much as one could struggle without surrendering runs in the first two innings, and once again in the 4th. However the ill-advised 5th inning for Humber was his first 1-2-3 frame and bought the bullpen some additional time after being worked heavily on Friday.
Hector Santiago entered the game in the 6th and carried out another 3 up 3 down for the Sox, hung around to retire one more in the 7th. Nate Jones pitched in, did his part, and finished the 7th so that Jesse Crain could come in for a full inning of his own in which he’d only allow a walk. Addison Reed: Closer, shut it down in the 9th without even giving any false hope to Dodger hitters. The bullpen pitched beautifully and Philip Humber got the win. What a world.
Plus: Everybody loves a clean bullpen. It’s hard not to get down on the pen when they don’t go out and put zeroes on the board. Fact of the matter is, most bullpens don’t do that, that’s why those guys are out there waiting to pitch an out and an inning at a time instead of starting. However! When the bullpen does come out and put zeroes on the board, it’s time to smile.
Minus: I think we’re at a point in the season where we can count on every fifth day’s “minus” blurb referring in some way to Philip Humber. At least until he is mercifully removed from the starting rotation to work on whatever issues he is having that cause these ridiculously underperformed outings. 5 innings, 9 hits, 4 runs (and the win) for Humber.
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