(Sports Network) - Jeanmar Gomez tries to carry over a terrific spring into
his first start tonight when the Cleveland Indians continue a three-game
series with the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field.
Gomez, who was 5-3 with a 4.47 earned run average in 11 appearances last
season, was the Tribe's best pitcher this spring, going 1-1 wtih a 1.37 ERA in
19 2/3 innings of work to nail down the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
"I feel good, but that's just one step," Gomez said. "We need to continue to
work hard every day. My slider was much better this year compared to two years
ago. That helped me a lot with the hitters."
Gomez has had some success against the White Sox, as he beat them both times
he has faced them, while pitching to a 2.25 ERA in those outings.
The White Sox, meanwhile, will pin their hopes tonight on righty Philip
Humber, who is coming off a breakout season in 2011 that saw him go 9-9 with a
3.75 ERA in 28 games, 26 of which were starts.
Humber is 0-1 lifetime versus the Indians with a 6.91 ERA in five games (three
starts).
Humber will be trying to match the effort of Chris Sale in the opener of this
set on Monday. In his first big league start Sale tossed 6 2/3 strong innings
to lead the White Sox to a 4-2 win.
Sale (1-0) gave up just one run on three hits while striking out five and
walking two in his first career start. He threw 60 of his 100 pitches for
strikes.
"I was a bit nervous," Sale said. "But I tried to channel that towards
pitching. I tried not to be scared of pitching, but motivated,"
Hector Santiago gave up a run in the ninth, but still collected his second
save of the season.
A. J. Pierzynski cracked a two-run homer and Alejandro De Aza added a solo
shot for the White Sox, who bounced back from a 5-0 loss to the Texas Rangers
on Sunday. Paul Konerko finished with a pair of hits and Brent Morel
contributed an RBI single.
Josh Tomlin (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs on seven
hits while striking out seven and walking one in five full frames.
Jose Lopez ripped a solo home run and Carlos Santana added an RBI single for
the Tribe, who fell to 1-3 on the young season.
Chicago was 11-7 versus the Indians last season.
The Sports Network