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When you’re hot, you’re hot. And Monday (May 28) was hot in Chicago and for Chicago. Left-hander Chris Sale strikes out 15 as the Chicago White Sox defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in St. Petersburg, Fla.; and the Chicago Cubs thump the San Diego Padres 11-7 at Wrigley Field to end a 12-game losing streak.
A photo of Lisa Humble or Chris Sale? No contest. Credit: Bersano Photography
Sale’s strikeout performance was the second-best in franchise history. Jack Harshman whiffed 16 against the Boston Red Sox on July 25, 1954.
“I didn’t know what the record was,” said Sale (6-2), who departed after getting one batter out in the eighth. He allowed one run, three hits and two walks. “That’s something I’m not really worried about. I knew I had quite a few there late in the game, but it’s the same thing just like any other day. You go out there and you try not to focus on all the external stuff that might get in the way of you doing your job.”
The Cubs hit four home runs as did the Padres on an afternoon with the wind blowing out. Even so, there are those who wouldn’t mind seeing a healthy Anthony Rizzo called up from Class AAA Iowa to play first base for the Cubs. Apparently, that is more of a fan phenomenon than a front office on for the phenom who has 17 homers, 46 runs batted in and is hitting .354 in 48 games for the Iowa Cubs. He also was removed fro Sunday’s game because of conerns about a possible right wrist injury.
“No young player should ever be viewed as the savior or the changer of a major-league offense,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said before Monday’s game. “We have a lot of veterans on this team,and we’re going to get through this and get on the right track because of those veteran guys, not because of young guys coming up from the minor leagues.
“Whether that’s Rizzo, whether that’s other guys, we can’t count on those guys as saviors. They’re big parts of our future, but that’s not their role for us in 2012.”
As Padres GM last season, Hoyer called up Rizzo from Class AAA Tucson, where he had batted .365 with 16 home runs and 63 RBI in 52 games. With San Diego, Rizzo batted .141 and had 46 strikeouts in 128 at-bats. That’s enough to drive any team’s fans a bit batty.
Second thoughts about running a photo of Chris Sale? Not really. But here's a second photo of Lisa Humble. Credit: Bersano Photography
“I’ve certainly taken the blame for bringing him up last year – in almost an identical situation I might add – when you’re struggling to score runs,” Hoyer said. “We brought him up because we weren’t getting any production at first base. As things sped up on [Rizzo], he had some mechanical flaws.
“He’s worked hard to close those holes. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to have his struggles at times when he gets up here, like every young player. But I think we’ve liked what we’ve seen, his willingness to make adjustments and the way he’s gone about his business in Triple-A.”
Cubs fans already might be waiting till next season at this point. In terms of seeing Rizzo playing in Wrigley, it might be a case of waiting till next month — if that’s any consolation.
Monday also was the day the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team returned home to Evanston with its seventh NCAA title in eight years. The Wildcats down Syracuse 8-6 in the title contest Sunday night in Stony Brook, N.Y.
Stay humble, Chicago.
Speaking of humble, say hello to Lisa Humble. She is a bikini competitor from North Carolina who competed in the 2012 Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. Lisa also is among the competitors in Fitness World’s new model search. Time is running out on the voting, so you might want to check her out (and vote for her!) on Fitness World’s Facebook page, which you can access by clicking here. You actually have to like Fitness World’s page before you can vote (sounds like voter supression to some of us, but that’s another story for another day — or for another Web site).
Some video from her photo shoot with Don Bersano, whose work often is featured around here. Plus a brief chat with Lisa when she was in Columbus for the Arnold:
And, for good measure (or however you care to look at it), here is some bikini-related video without Lisa (although it undoubtedly would be better with her):
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