Richard, Ramirez lead White Sox past Pirates 4-0
On Thursday, general manager Kenny Williams thought there was a 70 percent chance Jake Peavy would accept a trade from the San Diego Padres.
Williams even allowed himself to look ahead to Saturday night's interleague game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which would have been - could have been - Peavy's White Sox debut.
As it turned out, Peavy exercised the no-trade clause in his contract, at least for now.
So that left the Sox with Clayton Richard, who was rumored to be headed to the Padres had Peavy approved the deal.
"It definitely was," Richard said when asked if it was an unsettling period. "Two days ago there was all this talk and rumors. But it just made me appreciate what I have here and the opportunity to go out and pitch for the Chicago White Sox."
He might not be Peavy, but Richard continued to make a name for himself with 6 strong innings in Saturday's 4-0 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.
While guiding the Sox to their second straight shutout over the Pirates, the 25-year-old Richard allowed just 4 hits and threw his fastball as hard as 96 mph while recording a career-high 8 strikeouts.
"He's improving every day," acting manager Joey Cora said. "Ever since he got the nod as a starter, every time he goes out there, he's better and better and better. We might have something there."
Could it actually be a case of the Padres' loss is the White Sox' gain? After all, Richard (1-0) has not allowed an earned run over his last 11 innings, and let's just say his contract is not as steep as Peavy's.
Plus, the big lefty has handled all of the trade talk like a seasoned pro. When asked about the Peavy situation before the game and its effect on Richard, Sox pitching coach Don Cooper's blood pressure rose a bit.
"Nothing that's gone on has taken away from the opportunity for Clayton," Cooper said. "We were proceeding before like nothing was going to happen because that's what we have to do.
"I wasn't sitting around dreaming and looking at video of the guy we might get. My concern is the 12 guys we do have, rather than the 13th guy that somebody says might come. I could care less about that stuff."
Even though both the White Sox and the Padres confirmed there was a trade in place for Peavy, Cooper wasn't so sure Richard was involved in the deal.
"I haven't heard from anybody officially whose names were in there," Cooper said. "I don't know where you guys (media) get them. I'm in meetings every day and I don't hear them.
"I'm sure you guys are all speculation, but that's easy speculation when you take out a minor-league roster and look at which guys are good and who might go. With Clayton, nothing has changed."
If anything, Richard has changed. And fortunately for the Sox, it has been for the better.
<<p class="factboxtextbold12col"><b>Gregor's game tracker</b></p> p class="factboxtextbold12col">Saturday's grade: A-. You can't penalize Clayton Richard for breezing through a bad Pittsburgh lineup. As Joey Cora said, the White Sox might have something here.</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col">Shutting it down: The Sox have blanked the Pirates in back-to-back games. They did the same to the Royals last June.</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col">National offense: Jermaine Dye homered Saturday and he's reached base safely in 15 straight interleague games. Dye is batting .400 with 9 HR and 22 RBI over that stretch.</p> <p class="factboxtextbold12col">On tap: The White Sox' best pitcher, Mark Buehrle, is on the mound today. The lefty beat the Twins Tuesday, allowing 1 run over 7 innings. Buehrle is a career 3-0 (1.96 ERA) vs. Pittsburgh.</p>