Cubs' Jason Hammel: Drops hammer on White Sox

Hammel (10-5) cruised through seven innings in Wednesday's 8-1 blowout of the White Sox, allowing just a single run on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

Analysis:

That's now three consecutive wins for Hammel and four straight starts of two or fewer runs since the ERA-ruining 10-run disaster that opened his month of July. Without that game, he'd have a 2.53 ERA instead of his current 3.23 -- but hey, they all count. Nonetheless, despite seeing his strikeout rate dip and walk rate rise from last year, he's still sitting on the best ERA of his career. The caveat is that both his BABIP and strand rate have been friendlier than he deserves, so it still seems reasonable to expect regression down the stretch from the 33-year-old.