Peavy just doesn't have it in loss to Indians
CLEVELAND - Jake Peavy didn't allow a run in the first inning during Tuesday night's start against the Indians at Progressive Field.
That appeared to be a positive sign for the White Sox' right-hander, considering he came into the game with an 11.00 ERA in the first inning this season.
Peavy came out and put up a quick zero, but he did allow 2 hits in the opening inning and was bailed out of trouble when third baseman Mark Teahen made a nice defensive play to retire Austin Kearns.
After that, Peavy wasn't as fortunate, and neither were the Sox.
"Tonight I just didn't have very good stuff at all," Peavy said after the White Sox fell to Cleveland 7-3. "Nothing was sharp. And when you're not sharp you better be good with location."
He wasn't.
While throwing 102 pitches in 6 innings, Peavy allowed 3 runs in the third inning and 3 more in the sixth. The White Sox' supposed ace is 3-4 with a 6.05 ERA in 9 starts.
"Up and down," manager Ozzie Guillen said after the Sox lost to the last-place Indians for the sixth time in eight games. "He had a very, very tough time. They scored very quickly against him. He left a couple of balls that when they left him they left the park. It's up and down.
"In the beginning he struggled and then settled down a little bit, but he didn't have it with him. What's the reason? I don't know. He should know. He should tell you guys the reason, what's going on with him."
Peavy has proved to be a great talker but not much else so far this season.
"I didn't have good stuff," he said. "I just got guys out making some pitches. That's just the way you have to do it. I reached back there and got what I had in the first.
"Obviously (Cleveland starter) Mitch Talbot was good tonight, and I knew a couple of runs would cost us the game.
"Going back out there and letting that (third) inning happen was tough. I didn't have very good stuff tonight, but I gave it all I've got and it just wasn't very pretty."
In the third inning, Peavy served up No. 9 hitter Jason Donald's first major-league home run. After retiring Trevor Crowe, Peavy allowed another homer to Shin-Soo Choo.
"The breaking ball that Donald hit out just stayed right down the middle, no life," Peavy said. "The pitch that Choo hit out was a breaking ball; it was down and off the ground, guys shouldn't - you know just everything was kind of flat, just mediocre out of the hand.
"I just didn't feel the best in the world, and those two innings cost us the ballgame."
Peavy's velocity was normal, but he appeared to be dealing with the dreaded "dead arm."
"You're going to have starts where you're just not sharp," Peavy said. "My arm just didn't feel alive, and that's just part of pitching.
"You're going to go out there a lot of times. I've said a lot the good pitchers find a way in these games, and I didn't do it tonight.
"This is the first time in awhile I went out there and just didn't feel good, just didn't feel like I could go to something and it can get me out of trouble. I didn't have anything to go to stuff wise, and that's tough.
"But we've got our guy (Mark Buehrle) going tomorrow and I just hope the boys can pick me up and we can go down to Tampa on a good note and grind it out there. And I'm going to get some good treatment and try to get my arm to bounce back for Sunday's game."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Indians 7, White Sox 3</p>
<p class="News"><b>Aces low:</b> Jake Peavy has been inconsistent all season, and that trend continued against Cleveland. The right-hander allowed 6 runs in 6 innings. Peavy also allowed 2 home runs in a game for the third time this year.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Double trouble:</b> The Sox had 8 hits, and 6 were doubles. They hadn't had 8 or fewer hits with 6 doubles since Sept. 1, 2001.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Still rolling</b>: Alexei Ramirez was 2-for-4 with 2 doubles. He's batting .353 with 4 doubles, a home run and 9 RBI over his last 10 games.</p>
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