After spending seven seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, Adrian Houser is having a heck of year in Chicago. Signed off waivers in May, he is now 5-2 with a 1.56 ERA in nine starts. In another gem against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, he first had to get through a wave of nausea not unfamiliar to Brewers fans. For at least the third time in his career, Houser pulled off a “puke and rally” as Toronto mustered just one run in seven innings.
Houser Continues Milwaukee Brewers Tic with White Sox
He made it through a scoreless top of the first inning before needing a vomit break in the dugout as the Sox took their turn at the dish. Houser then returned for six more frames, allowing a single run on seven hits and two walks. He struckout just two Blue Jays batters, but he didn’t need to blow it by them to be effective. Instead, he filled up the zone with 70 strikes out of 96 pitches.
Milwaukee fans have already seen this movie twice. In a 2018 relief appearance against the Phillies, Houser threw up on the mound twice, but stayed in to finish the inning. In 2019, Houser experienced a similar first-inning episode in a start versus Texas. He recovered to strike out 10 batters that day.
Compared to his experiences in Milwaukee, today’s incident might have been the most successful, as Houser reached the dugout in time for blast off.
He said postgame, “Puke and rally. Once I get it out, it’s all good. Ready to rock and roll.”
Seemingly Nothing Can Stop Career-Best Campaign
It’s probably happened more than on three occasions. “Oh yeah, that’s probably about the fifth time,” Houser guessed. “So that’s nothing new. The trainers knew. I told them when I came in, ‘Hey, this is a possibility.’ I felt a lot better after it.”
Then-Brewers manager said after the Phillies game years ago that Houser’s ailment resulted partly from nerves, partly from an empty stomach and the hot temperatures. Houser didn’t mention any specifics about his start Wednesday. At this point, it shouldn’t catch as many people off guard.
On the whole, the start was hardly atypical in itself. Houser has now failed to complete six innings just once this season. It was also his third outing of seven innings or more, allowing one earned run or less – he allowed zero earned runs in the two prior.
Now 32 years old, Houser has gone several seasons without achieving much success. Since joining the team, he has been the ace of the White Sox rotation. It might be same old, same old for him, but his resilience on the mound today matches his career trajectory. The way things are going, he seems bound what would be a career-best season by a mile.
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