Philip Humber Throws 21st Perfect Game In MLB History

No hits. No walks. No runs. Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history today, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Newsday reports that Humber’s perfect game was the first in two years. The last person to throw a perfect game was Roy Halladay who threw one against the Florida Marlins on May 29, 2010.

Humber is the third Sox player to accomplish the feat. Mark Buehrle did the same against Tampa Bay on July 23, 2009, and Charles Robertson threw a perfect game against Detroit on April 30, 1922.

Humber said:

“This is awesome… I’m so thankful. I don’t know that I dominated them… Obviously the ball was hit at people. I’m thankful for that. It was a well-pitched game. Definitely something I’ll never forget… A lot of credit goes to A.J. (Pierzynski) He did a great job calling the game and blocking balls.”

Humber threw just 96 pitches (he had a 4 pitch and a 6 pitch inning) against the Mariners today in his first career complete game. Humber threw nine strikeouts and relied on the defensive play of the Sox for the other 18.

ESPN reports that Humber relied heavily on his slider to get key outs throughout the game. He threw 32 sliders during his perfect games and was able to get outs off of 15 of them.

Here’s a video of Humber’s perfect game.