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 Peavy limited the Kansas City Royals to three runs and seven hits
over six innings, while striking out five with one intentional walk
in a 4-2 loss Tuesday night.
Peavy, who began the season on the disabled list after surgery last
July for a detached shoulder muscle, was 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA in his
previous three starts.
"A loss is a loss and I don't like losing, but I felt a whole lot
better than I've been feeling," Peavy said. "Stuff-wise tonight was
way better than what I've been running out there. I had a chance to
compete, but I just didn't do quite enough.
"Everything was a little bit more crisp. I didn't have great stuff,
but I had plenty enough stuff to compete," he said. "There's a lot
more positive out of this start than there has been the previous
three. I had command. I threw the ball where I wanted to."
Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios hit consecutive RBI singles in the
first to stake Peavy to a 2-0 lead. His only blemish until the sixth
inning came when Royals rookie Eric Hosmer singled in the second,
Matt Treanor hit a double and Escobar grounded out to drive home a
run.
Peavy set the Royals down in order in the fourth and fifth before
running into trouble.
Billy Butler singled with one out in the sixth and Jeff Francoeur
doubled into the left-field corner to put runners on second and
third. After a visit to the mound, Peavy intentionally walked Hosmer
to load the bases for Treanor, who came through with a single up the
middle to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead.
"Just the pitch to Treanor I would like to have back," Peavy said.
"It was just up. He didn't hit it hard, but hard enough. It's not
like he scalded it. You got to tip your hat. He did enough to win a
ball game. Treanor has got some hits off of me, but it's not like
he's beating me to death."
Although Treanor is 6 for 13 off Peavy, White Sox manager Ozzie
Guillen opted to have him walk Hosmer, a left-handed hitting rookie,
to load the bases and pitch to the light-hitting catcher. "If that situation comes up again, he's going to beat me again,"
Guillen said. "I got first base open. I was hoping for a ground
ball double play."
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Danny Duffy (2-4) returned from the minors to toss seven sharp
innings and pick up the victory.
The rookie left-hander hit the first batter he faced, walked the
second and allowed both to score. But he settled down after that
shaky start to mow down a lineup that Guillen stacked with
right-handed hitters.
The 22-year-old Duffy, who had been winless in his last four
starts for the Royals, needed 64 pitches to get through the
first three innings -- and just 30 total over the next four. He
allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six, matching
the longest start of his blossoming major league career.
Greg Holland pitched a perfect eighth inning for Kansas City,
and Joakim Soria worked around a single in the ninth for his
10th consecutive save and 17th of the season.
"I was pretty efficient after the first inning and my team just
played their butts off behind me," said Duffy, who made one
start at Triple-A Omaha during the All-Star break so he could
remain on regular rest. "I said, I'm going to establish the
inside tonight ... it was a good game all around for this team."
NOTES: The White Sox optioned LHP Hector Santiago to Double-A
Birmingham after the game. John Danks is expected to come off
the DL to pitch in Wednesday's series finale. .The Royals sent
LHP Everett Teaford to Omaha on Monday night to make room for
Duffy. ... White Sox 2B Gordon Beckham made just his second
error in his last 100 games in the third inning. He also singled
in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10
games. ... Royals 3B Mike Moustakas was 0 for 4, extending his
hitless streak to 17 at-bats.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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