Big Inning & Dominant Peavy Earn Win

An Adam Dunn 2-run homer in the first inning would turn out to be all that was needed to best the Indians tonight, but the offense took it upon themselves to put a few extras on the board in support of yet another dominant performance from Jake Peavy.

White Sox: 8
Indians: 1

If I were to tell you that an inning that started with an Adam Dunn walk and that he would then be put in motion with Paulie at the plate, assuming you hadn’t already been made aware of the score, the only end scenarios you’d be able to picture would likely be with Dunn being tagged out. On this particular night, the gods smiled down on the pale hose and Paul Konerko poked the pitch into right field to begin a merry-go-round inning that would result in 10 men coming to the plate and a big 6 spot going on the board.

After the 4th inning pounding, Jeanmar Gomez would have to wear it, remaining in the game to pitch into the 7th. He wore it well, not allowing any more runs and saving his teams bullpen for their trip into Fenway for a 4 game series beginning tomorrow.

Everybody needs to take a moment or two to think about how impressive Jake Peavy has been so far. As the season started, Jake gave the same bulldog comments about how he’s ready to compete and feeling healthy again. Things we’ve heard since we acquired him. We’ve even seen glimpses of a dominant Peavy in previous seasons, but right now we are definitely seeing the man we traded for. Media outlets everywhere are constantly comparing 2012 Jake to 2007 Jake. If the health holds, we’ve got ourselves a true ace.

Plus: Offense. A Dunn bomb and one huge inning may have been the only tallies, but even outside of that balls were hit hard and guys were swinging well. Next up: consistency.

Minus: I’m not sure if it was a Ventura decision all the way but I got the distinct feeling that Peavy bullied the skipper into letting him stay in the game through the 7th to let the shutout get away. Not that the shutout is too important, though the Indians have yet to be shutout this season, but I’d like to know that the manager is going to stand strong against an insistent Jake. There are going to be lots of times he won’t want to come out of the game when he probably should. That health I was talking about? It’s not going to stay if Robin lets him throw 140 pitches a night just so he doesn’t have to hear Jake swear at him.

Tipping Point:
The game was well in hand by the time the Sox had their biggest inning of the season. Adam Dunn’s HR in the first was worth a 17.2% shift in run expectancy.

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