Peavy pitches into 9th, White Sox beat Royals 5-4

Posted May 15, 2010 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If the White Sox are going to climb out of the muck and get back into contention in the AL Central, this is how it's going to be. They are going to have to win a lot of games like they did in Saturday night's 5-4 decision over the Royals at rainy Kauffman Stadium. "We'll have to grind it out, we know that," starting pitcher Jake Peavy said. "We've said that from spring training. We've got to be a bunch of dirtbags that just don't quit. We did that today. "We strung together some nice hits. I was good enough to keep us close enough to make it happen. Those are as gratifying wins as going out there and being dominant." It looked like the Sox were heading for their third straight loss when Kansas City jumped on Peavy for 3 runs in the first inning. The White Sox did manage to get a run back off Royals starter Luke Hochevar in the second, but they were trailing 4-1 heading into the seventh inning while following a familiar script. That's when the Sox started authoring a new ending. They loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and got a huge 2-run single from backup catcher Ramon Castro, their No. 9 hitter. Leadoff man Juan Pierre followed with an RBI single to tie it, and Andruw Jones' sacrifice fly to deep center field decided the outcome. "I think the difference from the past was the clutch hitting," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We had a couple of big basehits when we needed it. I think the hit by Castro was huge. The blooper by (Gordon) Beckham was huge for him, too. That's what we've been missing. We're missing the hit with people on base. And that's really our problem all year long." If they start playing like "dirtbags," maybe the problem will disappear. "We're going to grind it out," Peavy said. "We're not going to go out and bang the ball out like the Yankees. We have to battle as pitchers. I want to battle and be better than I was (Saturday) and I'm going to be, but the boys never stopped playing hard. "We ran the bases hard, played hard defense, so when I say that, yeah, don't be afraid to get dirty, do the little things. We have some guys that are established hitters, done some great things in the big leagues, but as a team we have to just start playing hardball. That's who we are as a team." Peavy again showed who he is as a pitcher. After the rocky first inning, the right-hander turned it up and made a strong bid for the Sox' first complete game of the season. Coming off the mound after the eighth inning, Peavy made it clear he wanted to finish it up. "I respect that," Guillen said. "That's his game. He's a great pitcher. We got him here for a reason. Even when I wanted to take him out (with one out in the ninth), I wanted to take him out before I get there because he's going to try to convince me to leave him in. I love people like that. They're not afraid to go out there with the game on the line." Scot Gregor's Sox TrackerWhite Sox 5, Royals 4In the clutch: Trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning, the Sox rallied to take the lead on big hits from Ramon Castro (2-run single) and Juan Pierre (RBI single).Three in a row: After allowing 3 runs on 2 hits, a walk and a hit batter in the first inning, Jake Peavy settled down and went 81 innings while winning his third straight start.Save by Matt: Matt Thornton retired the final two hitters and picked up his first save of the season. Thornton needed medical attention for a muscle spasm in his left triceps but stayed in the game.

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