Jake Peavy came into the 2012 campaign with something to prove. Being totally healthy for the first time since coming to the South Side, Peavy has been outspoken about his desire to prove to Sox fans that picking him up was not a mistake. Although it’s early, Jake certainly seems to be making his case loud and clear. In Oakland on Monday night Peavy threw a complete game, 3 hit, shutout against the Athletics, striking out 5, all within 107 pitches, not too shabby for a guy who hasn’t been healthy since 2009 (arguably). Peavy is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and almost a 1:9 walk to strikeout ratio so far in 2012 and looks like a more mature version of the 2007 Cy Young award winner, with a little less velocity on his fastball and more movement on all of his pitches.
He was backed by a 12 hit offensive assault by the White Sox. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko went back to back in the 4th, giving the Sox an early 2-0 lead and putting Konerko 1 homer short of the 400 mark. The Sox would add 2 more runs in the 9th as your neighborhood insurance agents Gordon Beckam and AJ Pierzynski each knocked in a run to give the Sox the 4-0 advantage heading into the bottom half.
Other notable offensive performances tonight: Alex Rios was 3 for 5 with 3 singles and the struggling Brent Morel was 2 for 4 with a double and a single, hopefully showing signs of breaking out of his slump. Rios will continue to be a key for this offense, if he continues to swing the bat like he is, this team is going to be dangerous.
While not a perfect performance from Peavy, an absolute gem none the less, proving once again that this White Sox pitching staff has got some talent. The Sox are in Oak town again tomorrow and will look to keep it rolling with Gavin Floyd on the bump, first pitch over on WGN at 9:05 pm.