White Sox’ bullpen shines in holding off Dodgers
BY DARYL VAN SCHOUWEN dvanschouwen@suntimes.com June 17, 2012 12:40AM
Philip Humber allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings Saturday against the Dodgers. He was aided by a bullpen that didn't allow a hit in four innings. | Mark J. Terrill~AP
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Updated: June 17, 2012 1:03AM
LOS ANGELES — The White Sox and struggling right-hander Philip Humber, aided by four hitless innings from the bullpen, survived a six-hit blitz in the third and held on for a 5-4 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.
Humber (3-4) wasn’t sharp, but he pitched well enough in five innings to win for the first time since he defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on May 29.
Humber left with a 5-4 lead, leaving Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Jesse Crain and Addison Reed (eighth save) to do the rest. The Dodgers didn’t have a hit after the third inning.
“They shut it down for four-plus,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Those guys continue to come in and get the job done.”
A night after hitting two homers and a double, Alex Rios tripled in a run and singled, and Alexei Ramirez drove in two runs with a bloop single for the Sox (35-30). Alejandro De Aza’s fielder’s-choice grounder scored Ramirez from third and broke a 4-4 tie in the fourth.
The Sox took a 4-0 lead against right-hander Chad Billingsley before the Dodgers got all the runs back in the third.
Ramirez’s bloop two-run single, Humber’s line single in the second (the first hit of his career) and Rios’ triple to center in the third put the Sox up by four. The Dodgers peppered Humber for six singles in the third, including consecutive RBI hits by Bobby Abreu, A.J. Ellis and James Loney.
De Aza got the lead back in the fourth by making contact, and Humber responded with two consecutive scoreless innings to finish his night.
“As long as it’s good enough to get a win for the team, that’s good enough for me,” Humber said. “I felt like I pitched pretty well.”
Humber allowed nine hits after entering the game with a 1-4 record and 7.50 ERA in nine starts since throwing his perfect game.
“Fortunately we scored some runs, and I got in on that myself,” he said.
“Phil was not at his best, but he came back and found a way through it,” Ventura said. “It’s there.”
NOTE: The Sox altered their pitching probables for the upcoming series against the Cubs. Zach Stewart will start Monday, pushing Jake Peavy back to Tuesday and Gavin Floyd to Wednesday.
