Scott Sanderson appreciated Roberto Hernandez before Thursday night.
Hernandez entered the game in the ninth with the tying run on third and one out. Gary Gaetti bounced to pulled-in Ozzie Guillen, who cut down Felix Jose at the plate. Brent Mayne flied out to end it.
“That was pretty special, wasn’t it?” said Sanderson. “I don’t think anyone on this team lost any confidence in Bert. He’s probably tougher on himself than any of us would be on him.
“When I saw he was coming in the game, I was just thinking, `Ah, the perfect situation for him.’ “
Nice entrance: The night before, Hernandez pitched the ninth and won. This time, the dramatic save.
“I had this feeling I was going to go out there, do my best and shut it down,” he said. “I haven’t had that feeling in over two weeks.”
Uncharacteristically, when manager Gene Lamont made the motion, Hernandez flew through the bullpen gate and raced in, carried by the cheers of the fickle Comiskey crowd.
Said Hernandez: “I was almost out of breath when I finished throwing my warmups.”
Bonus pick: Sanderson has now won three starts in a row. In Comiskey Park, he’s 4-1, 2.16. This was a man unsigned until the middle of spring training. Someone asked Lamont if all this was a surprise.
“I think so,” he said. “If we’d have known he was going to be 7-2, we wouldn’t have left him out there so long for somebody else to get him.”
More Top Picks Laptops
Hanging in there: Frank Thomas’ 29th homer Thursday night came in the team’s 75th game. Roger Maris, in 1961, hit his 29th-and his 30th-in the Yankees’ 75th.
No progress: Joe Hall, on a rehab assignment at South Bend while being treated for a sore hamstring, was shut down Thursday and moved from the 15- to the 60-day disabled list. Out since May 14, he could be activated in two weeks. For now, said Sox trainer Herm Schneider, he’ll do nothing.