Carlos Hernández turns in another strong performance against the AL Central’s best
The Chicago White Sox have faced Kansas City Royals rookie right-hander Carlos Hernández more than any opponent, and it did nothing for them on Friday night.
Hernández camped out by his locker in the home clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, pulled out his cell phone, contacted his wife, mother and father during the 2-hour, 3-minute rain delay and just relaxed and got comfortable until he got the word from his manager Mike Matheny that the game wouldn’t start until 9:10 p.m.
After that, Hernández flipped the switch to game mode and locked in on the White Sox as he collected his fifth win of the season as the Royals triumphed in the series opener 7-2.
While it seems like it should be more complicated than just turning up his level of focus as game time approaches, Hernández seems to have unlocked the secret to doing just that.
Throwing a 100-mph fastball doesn’t hurt either.
“The mentality is to attack, compete, one inning for one inning, hitter for hitter and that’s it,” Hernández said.
Hernández held the White Sox to two runs on five hits and three walks in six innings.
In his last seven appearances (six starts), he’s 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA. The Royals are 6-1 during that stretch.
Three of his starts have come against the AL Central-leading White Sox. He’s 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a .186 opponents’ average in those games.
“As a team becomes more familiar, it reinforces the need to have that repertoire that he has,” Matheny said. “He’s able to throw, and he did, four pitches. He had all four working today and got them going early.
“Then you add to that it’s an added challenge when you have that kind of delay. You’re sitting around. You can’t get into a routine. He has been really good about staying focused. Then attacking the strike zone. It has been kind of the motto. He did it with every pitch and just continues to take steps forward.”
In his most recent two outings, Hernández struck out 14 batters in 12 2/3 innings. Friday night, the White Sox were aggressive, but they weren’t able to do damage against Hernández.
He didn’t mind them putting the ball in play.
“One throw, one out is good for me,” Hernández said with a smile before he pointed out that fewer pitches lets him stay in the game longer.
He didn’t give up a run until the sixth inning. A leadoff single and a walk put the first two batters on base and set the White Sox up well. An RBI groundout and a bloop single with two outs were all they mustered against Hernández.
As far as facing the same opponent so frequently, Hernández doesn’t seem to view that as a benefit or a detriment. He tries to look at each outing individually.
“Every game is different, the lineup is different, it’s a new opportunity,” Hernández said.
