Chilly and frustrating night for Peavy, Sox
Jake Peavy experienced a fitting end to a frustrating night Wednesday at chilly U.S. Cellular Field.
Hitting the showers after pitching 5 erratic innings in the White Sox' 5-3 loss to the Indians, Peavy discovered there was no hot water.
So the Sox' No. 2 starter met the media bundled in a heavy leather coat and tried to explain how he squandered a 3-0 lead.
"I felt good warming up," Peavy said. "It was harder to get loose in between innings, but the weather was no factor. I just didn't have great command, by any means, of anything."
After playing a near perfect game in Monday's season-opening 6-0 win over the Cleveland, the White Sox really had nowhere to go but down. Initially, the Sox picked up where they left off while taking an early 3-0 lead.
Peavy struggled to find the plate all night but managed to hold the Indians scoreless through the first three innings while Paul Konerko delivered a sacrifice fly and a 2-run homer to give the White Sox a 3-0 edge.
"When you're up by 3 and you have Jake Peavy on the mound, you feel a little better," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "But obviously Jake was not on top of his game. He was kind of wild. And when you're a good pitcher like Jake is, you're going to give up a lot of jam shots. It happens."
The worst that could happen to Peavy came in the fourth inning, when Cleveland sent nine hitters to the plate and scored 3 runs to tie the game. Jhonny Peralta led off with a broken-bat double and Matt LaPorta followed with a broken-bat single to set up the rally.
"It was just one of those nights," Peavy said. "It's frustrating when you give up a 3-run lead."
Hitting No. 8 hitter Mike Redmond with a pitch to load the bases with one out in the fourth frustrated Peavy the most.
Peavy plunked the Indians' backup catcher with a 1-2 fastball, and Grady Sizemore later tied it with a 2-run single.
The Sox' offense managed just 1 hit off Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona (Konerko's 2-run homer). And they had just 1 more hit the rest of the game, A.J. Pierzynski's infield single against Aaron Laffey in the seventh inning.
"We only got 2 hits, but after they tied the game Carmona turned it up a notch," Guillen said.
Konerko homered for the second straight game and accounted for all of the White Sox' scoring.
"We expect a lot from him this year," Guillen said. "He's batting fourth for a reason."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Indians 5, White Sox 3</p>
<p class="News"><b>Rough debut:</b> The cold weather appeared to bother Sox starter Jake Peavy. The right-hander lasted just 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while throwing 106 pitches (67 strikes). Peavy also hit 2 batters.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Nice pace:</b> Paul Konerko homered for the second time in as many games, a 2-run shot off Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona in the third inning.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Flashing some leather:</b> The Sox' infield had a solid defense night. Second baseman Gordon Beckham made a nice catch in the fifth inning, third baseman Mark Teahen jumped up a gloved a line drive in the sixth and shortstop Alexei Ramirez caught a line drive headed for center field in the seventh.</p>
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