Sitting here listening to John Danks pitch against the Indians, made me think about the yesterday’s double header loss to the Tribe.

What is wrong with Phil Humber? Since his perfect game three weeks ago at Seattle, Humber’s ERA is a whopping 13.74. in two of those game, Humber has allowed 8 earned or more. He is pitching from behind to most hitters as his 11 walks in his past trio of starts will attest.

Humber has has past arm problems. I am not saying he is hurting again, but his stats over the past few weeks don’t seem like they are being thrown by a guy who is completely healthy.

The telling thing about yesterday is Humber only faced 18 guys, while throwing 62 pitches in allowing 8 earned runs.

Yikes!

I know I have been pulling for Brent Lillibridge to get more playing time, I just didn’t think it would come at the expense of Brent Morel. Morel is off to a horrible start offensively, hitting just .180 coming into Tuesday’s contest.

Lillibridge has been at 3rd quite a bit over the past 3-4 days, but his offense is lagging as well. He is hitting .161. 3rd base has been a hole since the departure of Joe Crede. I hope Jeff Manto is able to get Morel on track, because he can sure pick it at the hot corner.

It just goes to show the adjustments the league made this year to Morel. It’s now his turn to make adjustments.

I have no idea who Jose Quintana is. I’m glad the Sox do, because he pitched fantastic after relieving Humber in game one on Monday. He threw almost 6 innings of 1 hit ball while striking out 3. I know Quintana wasn’t on the spring roster. Some guys get overlooked, but like Quintana can pitch.

Quintana’s one day heroics didn’t stop the Sox from sending him back to Charlotte on Tuesday.

Sox made a valiant effort to get back in to Monday’s game, scoring 2 in the top of the 9th, making it a 2 run game. They actually had the tying run at the plate, but Nick Hagadone retired the final 3 batters for his first career MLB save.

Cleveland is full of no names like Hagadone, but they still sit atop the Central Division.

Indians won game one 8-6

They increased their lead by taking the 2nd game from the Sox, as well.

Eric Stults, who was one of the final roster cuts, made his first career start as a member of the Sox a good one. 2 earned runs over 6 innings should get Stults another start.

They couldn’t get Stults the win ’cause the Sox couldn’t solve Josh Tomlin, who struck out 8 in his 7+ innings.

From now on, the Sox should pitch around Asdrubal Cabrera, who went 4-6 in the doubleheader.

Nice to see Gordon Beckham hitting in the two spot. I think, in time, he’ll flourish in that spot.

How bad off would the Sox be without Alejandro De Aza? De Aza is hitting .391 over his past 6 games, with 2 stolen bases. He also plays a strong center field.

The Sox have to be frustrated with Matt Thornton. Thornton gave up a game winning blast to former Indian Jhonny Peralta on Friday. In game 2 yesterday, he suffered the loss after allowing the Indians to score a run in the top of the 9th.

His success, or lack of, is startling to me. The man can thrown the ball through a wall, and he works his tail off every day. Thornton has allowed a run in 4 of his past 6 appearances for an ERA of 10.80. Mind you, the main culprits have been the Tigers and Indians, who have seen a lot of the big left hander the past few years.

Indians won the night cap, 3-2.

Sox trail the Indians by 5 games, but the Tigers are 3 back. I do not think the Indians will be there in the end, but they sure do get off to fast starts, in what seems like every year.

Danks still has a 2-0 lead in the 6th, so right now things are looking good.