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MIN@BAL: Arrieta earns Opening Day victory

Last season, White Sox starter Philip Humber began the year simply as a placeholder until an injured Jake Peavy was healthy enough to take his place -- but that never happened.

Humber pitched so well in Peavy's absence that when it came time for Peavy to return to the rotation, then manager Ozzie Guillen elected to use a six-man rotation, instead of relegating Humber to the bullpen. Now, starting the season with his own spot in the rotation, Humber will look to impress new manager Robin Ventura in the right-hander's season debut against the Orioles on Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

As it turns out, spending time in that six-man rotation may have helped Humber prepare for his debut this year, which was pushed back after his first scheduled start was rained out in Cleveland last Tuesday.

"Last year, the times I had six, seven, eight days off in between, for whatever reason it doesn't seem to affect me, as far as being able to command the baseball," Humber said when asked if the extended layoff would hurt him on the mound. "And that's the only thing you worry about. For me, for some reason I'm able to still feel pretty comfortable, no matter how much rest I've had."

While Humber takes the mound for the first time, Orioles' starter Jake Arrieta will be making his third start of 2012.

Arrieta opened with a gem his first time out, hurling seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits against the Twins. His second start wasn't nearly as dominant, but he still fought through 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits against the Yankees.

Despite missing out on their second three-game sweep of the season in Sunday's 9-2 loss to the Blue Jays, the Orioles remain one game over .500 entering the series and plan to continue building on that early-season success against the White Sox.

"We're confident," right-hander Jason Hammel said after Saturday's victory. "We're not here to just roll over and go play baseball. We are out to play good baseball, and inside the clubhouse, we know we can compete in this league, and we are very, very proud of that."

Orioles: Jones looks to extend hitting streak
• Adam Jones extended his hitting streak to 12 games dating back to last season with a solo home run in Sunday's loss. Jones went 4-for-4 with a home run in his only career matchup with Humber.

Jones is hitting .343 (12-for-35) with three homers and four RBIs on the season.

• Catcher Matt Wieters (rest) and designated hitter Mark Reynolds (sick) were both out of the lineup Sunday. Wieters will be back in the lineup for Monday's opener, while Reynolds' status will depend on his illness.

White Sox: Long ball sparking offense
• With Dayan Viciedo's solo shot in the eighth inning Sunday, the White Sox extended their home run streak to five games.

During that stretch, six White Sox players -- Paul Konerko, Alejandro De Aza, A.J. Pierzynski, Alexei Ramirez, Tyler Flowers and Viciedo -- have combined for nine total homers.

Worth noting
• For their careers, players currently on the White Sox roster are a combined 9-for-25 (.365) with a home run and nine RBIs against Arrieta.

• The White Sox are 8-3-1 in the last 11 season series with the Orioles.

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