It was the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game against the Blue Jays, and you didn’t need to be Dionne Warwick to know what White Sox pitcher Matt Karchner was thinking.
After issuing a two-out walk to Alex Gonzalez, Karchner watched as Tony Phillips’ routine fly ball fell in front of Jeff Abbott in center field. Abbott’s cleats had gotten caught on the artificial turf, and the result was a base hit with runners on the corners.
Typical.
“I don’t want to keep saying it’s bad luck,” Karchner said, “but I’m making pretty good pitches, and it seems like every ground ball is finding a hole and every fly ball is dropping in.
“How do you change bad luck? Maybe I should kill a chicken. I’ve been talking to family, friends, priests. I’m open to suggestions.”
Karchner is in a nasty slump. At least Wednesday he managed to escape trouble by fanning Shannon Stewart to end the inning.
His other outings since the All-Star break have been disastrous. He’s 0-2 with three blown saves and a 15.19 earned-run average.
“The results haven’t been good,” Karchner said, “but I don’t feel like I’m pitching poorly.”
Sox manager Jerry Manuel is more concerned with the bottom line, which is why Karchner has been relegated to setup duty and Bill Simas has emerged as the team’s closer. Simas, who started the season at Class AAA Calgary, is 2-1 with six saves (in seven chances) and a 1.17 ERA in his last 12 outings. He has allowed just seven hits while striking out 16 in the 15-plus inning stretch. Manuel also has a first-rate option in 24-year-old Bob Howry, who has flourished since his first career loss just before the All-Star Game at Boston. Howry, a 6-foot-5-inch, 215-pounder, has been lethal in his last seven games, holding opponents to an .061 batting average while fanning 14.
“Right now, he’s a tremendous setup man,” Manuel said. “But he will get every opportunity to save ballgames here.”
The Sox’s glut of impressive right-handed relievers has led to speculation that Simas will be traded to a contender–perhaps the Cubs–before the July 31 deadline. But first things first.
“(Simas) will be the guy until he runs into some difficulty,” Manuel said.
It is not an entirely new role for Simas, who was a reliever for most of his minor-league career. But Simas entered the season with just three career major-league saves.
“I like closing a lot,” Simas said. “But the basics haven’t changed. The most important thing is to throw strike one and get the first out.”
Simas prepares for save situations by keeping to himself. In the seventh inning, he’ll stray from his usual seat in the bullpen to analyze the batting order and mentally prepare for whom he’ll face.
“I like to get away from everyone,” he said.
Simas has watched Karchner struggle and he shares the same belief as his friend and teammate.
“I don’t think his stuff is any different,” Simas said. “The balls are just going places where nobody’s at. It happens. I’ve been there.”
Karchner doesn’t want to be there, but he isn’t about to tinker with his formula for success. This is a man who had a streak of 20 straight saves from July 31, 1997, to May 28 of this year.
“The hardest thing is to do nothing, but there’s nothing that needs to be done,” he said. “All the good luck I’ve had before has caught up to me. Everybody wants to know what the problem is, but there is no answer. It will work itself out.”
