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White Sox Tue May 04 2010
Sox Win 5-1: Peavy Redeems Himself
This post has been corrected.
Rick's open letter must have gotten to the White Sox today since they came through and won game one in a three game series against the Kansas City Royals. I'm happy but not ecstatic about the White Sox's performance tonight. It's the Royals we're talking about. I repeat, the Royals, sans Cy Young pitcher Zack Greinke who pitched right before this series. Realistically, the Sox should have totally decimated the Royals, who missed plenty of opportunities to earn some runs from weak pitches or keep Sox runners from passing by second and third.
Okay, now that I've got the grim caveats out of the way, time for the plain ol' good news. Jake Peavy finally played a solid game of the season striking out nine over seven innings. When Ozzie and Don Cooper finally came to the mound at the top of the eighth you could see Peavy trying to negotiate some more pitching time. He wasn't, after all, tiring out or letting in runs like most pitchers tend to do after seven strong ones. It was really Peavy's day today which White Sox fans acknowledged by cheering his performance as he retired to the dugout for the evening. Peavy's pitching and defensive prowess were topnotch today especially when he made amazing save out of a fumble most pitchers wouldn't have been able to turn around on.
Besides Peavy's good work the Sox bullpen played well and tactfully. None of the five runs tonight were from Paul Konerko. Instead Alexei Ramirez hit a homer and smart singles and doubles by Juan Pierre, Alex Rios, and Andruw Jones put some on the board for the Sox. The one run Kansas got tonight was (annoyingly) from Scott Podsednik, formerly a proud member of the White Sox. Watching him earn a run and seeing his stellar .326 batting average was salt on the wound that is the fact that Pods was allowed to become a free agent by the Sox. It should be noted that Podsednik is hitting better for the Royals than he had for the White Sox in the last few years. He's hot stuff right now but Sox fans should take solace, Pods's ERA is only temporary. His ERA is already on a downward trend.
It should also be said that even though Gordon Beckham remains a disappointment at bat he's a great fielder and had a beautiful jumping throw to get an out at first today. If he ever decides that pitching is important he'll finally be the star he could be.
Anyway, best not to dwell. A win is a win and the Sox earned it tonight based off of strong playing by both Peavy and the team's hitters.
Image by Michelle Dimuzio.
rofimike / May 4, 2010 10:33 AM
Ack. Pods was a free agent signing in KC. Teahen came for Getz/Fields.