Houser, hit men lead White Sox to blowout win over Cubs
There was plenty of joy in Soxville on Friday night.
The South Side Hitmen were back, pounding out 18 hits against Cubs ace Shota Imanaga and three relievers in an emphatic 12-5 victory at Rate Field. The win snapped the White Sox' eight-game losing streak in the series.
Inside the clubhouse, winning pitcher Adrian Houser felt an overwhelming mix of emotions as he talked about how much of his extended family, plus his wife and two kids, were in town from Oklahoma.
“Baby girl's first time to be out there, so it was really cool. She's a month old,” Houser said while choking back tears. “Being away from them so much, it's been a tough year for us, with bouncing around and being away from each other. But we're fighting through it and having them here means a lot.”
During the past year, Houser was released by the Mets and pitched in the minor leagues for the Cubs, Orioles and Rangers before getting another chance in the majors from the White Sox in May.
He's made the most of the opportunity and then some, posting a 6-2 record and 2.10 ERA through 11 starts. He tossed 6 scoreless innings against the Cubs before Reese McGuire finally got to him for a 3-run homer in the seventh.
“I'm thankful,” Houser said. “(The White Sox) have given me the opportunity to pitch in the big leagues again. I didn't want to let it go to waste, so I worked my butt off, put my work in every day. I don't want to go back to the minor leagues. I want to stay up here and keep pitching up here.”
Houser admitted his teammates made his job easier by erupting for 5 runs in the first two innings. The lead grew to 9-0 in the fourth as the Sox crushed 4 home runs, and barely missed two others.
“We were on a mission when we came back from the all-star break,” shortstop Chase Meidroth said. “This has been a long-time coming, I feel like, so it's been really fun to put it all together. It's a new guy every night, so it's awesome. It's a team.”
Well, sorry to disagree, Chase, but the White Sox offense has been everybody, every night. This was the fourth time in seven games since the break the White Sox have scored in double figures. They've tallied a total of 71 runs while going 6-1. And their hottest hitter, Luis Robert Jr., sat out Friday due to adductor tightness.
Every White Sox starter had a hit by the end of the fourth inning. Edgar Quero went 4-for-5, while Meidroth and Miguel Vargas finished with 3 hits each. Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Austin Slater and ex-Cub Mike Tauchman hit the home runs.
Imanaga (7-4) was tagged for 7 runs and 12 hits in just over 3 innings of work. He faced two batters in the fourth, giving up a home run and double, before giving way to Chris Flexen.
This was Imanaga's worst outing this season, but he's thrown the occasional dud during his two years with the Cubs. Last year, he allowed 10 earned runs in 3 innings against the Mets, and 7 runs in Milwaukee.
“He just didn't have anything tonight and they made him pay for it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “His stuff wasn't crisp. The velo was down, not great location. It just shows the fine line of pitching in the big leagues. It's hard to believe that's the pitcher you saw the last two times make a start.”
In his previous two starts, against the Yankees and Red Sox, Imanaga allowed 1 run on 7 hits in a combined 14 innings.
“I just didn't have consistency tonight,” Imanaga said through his translator. “How my body felt versus how the ball came out, it didn't match up. I felt like I was throwing the ball too much in the zone.”
This could conceivably have been Houser's last start for the White Sox, with the trade deadline coming up next Thursday. Then again, since he's a low-cost rental, the Sox won't be desperate to move him unless they get a high-quality prospect in return, so anything can happen.
“If a trade happens, it's out of my control,” Houser said. “So right now, I'm focused on Adrian Houser, White Sox, and that's how I'm' treating it, going day by day.”