White Sox's Humber pitches perfect game
After a no-decision in his first start of 2012, Philip Humber hoped to make his second start of the season a bit more memorable.
Boy, did he ever -- in spectacular fashion, no less. The Chicago White Sox right-hander on Saturday pitched the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Seattle Mariners 4-0 at Safeco Field.
A 6-foot-3, 210-pound Texas native, Humber struck out nine, had 13 flyouts and five groundouts. He was extremely efficient on the mound, averaging a little more than nine pitches per inning -- 96 in total, 67 of them strikes compared to 29 balls.
"I can't even put it into words," said the 29-year-old Humber, who dedicated the win to his wife, back home in Tyler, Texas. "I'm just so happy. There's so many good things happening right now."
Even though their home team fell, the nearly 22,500 Mariners fans in attendance showed their appreciation for the history they had just watched and been a part of, giving Humber a standing ovation after the final out of the game. It was the third perfect game in White Sox team history.
Humber stayed cool under pressure, particularly in the bottom of the ninth, when he got leadoff hitter Michael Saunders to strike out swinging after working to a 3-2 count. Pinch-hitter John Jaso, batting for Miguel Olivo, followed with an easy flyout to right field.
"When you have a four-run lead, you don't want to walk the leadoff guy," Humber said. "A lot of credit goes to A.J. (White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski). He called a lot of great pitches, and our offense got some runs early."
The final batter of the game, pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan, also worked Humber to a 3-2 count -- the third of the game -- before striking out to end the game. However, the drama wasn't quite over: While Humber's pitch got away from Pierzynski, home plate umpire Brian Runge ruled that Ryan's check swing went around enough to warrant calling it a strike. Pierzynski recovered the errant ball and threw an easy toss to first baseman Paul Konerko to assure Ryan was indeed out, ending the historic outcome.
Humber, whose ERA is 0.63, lived up to his unofficial nickname of "humble," downplaying his role in the outcome and making sure to give his teammates got as much -- if not more -- of the credit.
"I don't know if I dominated them," Humber said. "Balls were hit at people. It was a well-pitched game and one I'll never forget. ... This is awesome. I'm so thankful."
In addition to securing the final out on Pierzynski's throw to first, Konerko also played the biggest role in the White Sox's offensive output. Konerko hit a two-run homer in the second inning off losing pitcher Blake Beavan, who yielded three of Chicago's four runs on seven hits, one walk and managed just one strikeout. With the loss, Beavan drops to 1-2 on the season.
Also driving in runs for the White Sox were Alejandro De Aza and Pierzynski.
