White Sox get it done without Dunn

It has been the hot topic, even before the White Sox took the field Tuesday night with the temperature at 93 degrees.

That’s the highest reading for a game at U.S. Cellular Field since July 24, 2005, but the blazing hot weather didn’t make its way to Adam Dunn’s ice-cold bat.

How bad has Dunn been through the first 66 games of the season?

His .176 batting average is the lowest in the American League and his 80 strikeouts top the charts.

No wonder there is a daily barrage of questions demanding to know what’s wrong with the big guy. Talked to a major-league scout before the Sox beat the Mariners 5-1 and asked the same question.

“How much time do you have?” the scout said.

Apparently, not enough.

The length of Dunn’s list of flaws seems to grow by the day, but he was spared another round of boos in the White Sox’ solid win over ace Felix Hernandez and Seattle.

Having seen enough, especially during his current 8-for-72 slide over the last 21 games, manager Ozzie Guillen put Dunn in the dugout for this game. He will be sitting there again Wednesday night as the Sox try to sweep a Mariners team that has its own offensive issues.

“I’m going to do with Dunn the same way I did it with (Alex) Rios,” Guillen said. “A couple of days out of the lineup, hopefully it will refresh his mind, put his stuff together. We’ve been doing a lot of different things with him and nothing works. Hopefully a little break for a couple of days recharges his batteries.”

While Dunn idles on the bench, the White Sox can continue leaning on productive hitters such as Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin. The duo got to Hernandez early Tuesday, and that was more than enough for Sox starter Phil Humber.

Konerko hit a solo home run off Hernandez leading off the second inning, giving him an RBI in each of his last eight games.

And after Omar Vizquel laced a 2-run triple into the right-field corner off Hernandez in the third, Quentin extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-run homer.

So much for that theory the Sox can’t win without Dunn and Rios, who sat out his second straight game Tuesday but will be back in the lineup Wednesday.

Of course, with Humber (5-3) on the mound, excessive run support hasn’t been needed.

The right-handed reclamation project held the AL’s worst offensive team to 1 run on 5 hits over 7⅔ innings and is 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA and a .187 batting average against over his last 8 starts.

Not too bad for a guy who didn’t even have a major-league offer until the White Sox claimed him off waivers from the A’s on Jan. 18 and signed Humber to a $500,000 contract.

“I’m just thankful for the opportunity to have a chance to contribute to the team and thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me,” Humber said. “Just go out there and try to earn it.

“That’s just not on game day. It’s preparation in the weight room and mentally. I’m just trying to show them they made the right decision.”

sgregor@dailyherald.com