NO-NO YOU DON’T: The White Sox’s Phil Humber didn’t allow the Yankees a hit until Alex Rodriguez singled with one out in the seventh inning. (Reuters)
Move over Good A.J. and Bad A.J. Here comes Hard Luck A.J.
A.J. Burnett threw his best game of the season for the Yankees, but he was only the second-best pitcher at Yankee Stadium last night: Former Mets first-round pick Phil Humber threw a gem and the White Sox beat the Yankees, 2-0, in front of an announced crowd of 40,506. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Yankees.
Humber stuck it to both New York baseball teams in one night. The No. 3 overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Mets, Humber did not allow a hit until the seventh inning. He allowed just that one hit, striking out five, walking two and hitting one batter in seven innings pitched.
Burnett nearly matched the 28-year-old White Sox righty, allowing three hits in eight innings, striking out two and walking two in his best start of the season. The White Sox scored their lone run off Burnett in the fourth inning, snapping a string of 23 consecutive innings without scoring. The run came on a groundout by Adam Dunn that knocked in Carlos Quentin, who doubled on a ball Curtis Granderson dove for, but could not grab.
Burnett reached the eighth inning for the first time since last August, but he was outdueled.
“It happens,” Burnett said. “You’re going to come across guys that are on. He was on.”
Humber had a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings before Alex Rodriguez hit a groundball up the middle to break it up and save both the Yankees and Mets (who in their 50th season, have zero no-hitters) from an embarrassing night.
“He threw the ball well,” said Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-4. “I don’t think he threw a ball straight all day that I can recall. . . . He kept us off balance all day.”
Humber, a 6-foot-3 Texan, was supposed to throw masterpieces like this one in Flushing. Instead, he never registered a win in two years as a Met. Former general manager Omar Minaya then traded him to the Twins before the 2008 season in the Johan Santana deal. Humber washed out with the Twins, Royals and Athletics before getting claimed off waivers by the White Sox in January.
Humber entered last night’s game with a career 3-3 record and a 5.04 ERA, and his career low for hits allowed in a game was four.
“He had command of all four of his pitches,” said catcher Russell Martin, who went 0-for-3. “He didn’t really make any mistakes in the middle of the plate. For the most part, he was just deceptive.”
The Yankees had a runner in scoring position in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings, but could never push a run across.
Rafael Soriano gave up a run in the ninth inning to make it 2-0. Granderson led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but Teixeira hit into a 3-6-1 double play against Sergio Santos and Rodriguez then struck out to end the game.