White Sox are team to fear in playoffs, Jake Peavy says
BY DARYL VAN SCHOUWEN dvanschouwen@suntimes.com September 26, 2012 10:12PM
Chicago White Sox Vs Cleveland Indians. White Sox starting pitcher No. 53 Hector Santiago. I Scott Stewart~Sun-Times
TONIGHT
RAYS AT SOX
The facts: 7:10, CSN, 670-AM, 97.5-FM.
The starters: James Shields (15-9, 3.65 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (11-12, 3.40).
THE REST OF THE SERIES
Friday: 7:10 p.m., Ch. 26,
670-AM, 97.5-FM. Jeremy Hellickson (9-10, 3.20) vs. Gavin Floyd (10-11, 4.56).
Saturday: 3:05 p.m., Ch. 32, 670-AM, 97.5-FM. Matt Moore (10-11, 3.92) vs. Chris Sale
(17-7, 2.86).
Sunday: 1:10 p.m., CSN/TBS, 670-AM, 97.5-FM. David Price (18-5, 2.58) vs. TBA.
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Updated: October 29, 2012 6:44AM
Right-hander Jake Peavy doesn’t care about the lackluster performance in September. He insists if the White Sox ‘‘find a way to get in’’ the postseason, they’ll be a team others won’t want to play.
‘‘Because if we get in, I think we’re a dangerous team,’’ Peavy said. ‘‘I don’t think anyone is lining up wanting to play us with the talent we have in this room.’’
Asked why the Sox are dangerous, Peavy said, “Because we can pitch. And our offense has potential to run up some big homers. If we hit some homers with some guys on base, with the pitching staff and the bullpen evolving the way it’s evolved, and we have a few starters that can get on a roll . . .’’
That’s a lot of ifs, but Peavy pointed to the Sox’ record against the New York Yankees (5-2) and Texas Rangers (6-3).
‘‘We can play with any team in baseball on any given day,’’ he said. ‘‘I’d love to have a chance to be in the playoffs.’’
Peavy starts in the opener of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. The Sox are 3-0 against the Rays, a playoff contender.
Peavy said pitching on a normal four days’ rest would not have been a problem, but after throwing 2032/3 innings, he welcomed five days, even though his ERA is 2.29 in 11 starts on four days and 3.71 in 14 starts on five days.
No rest for the weary
Manager Robin Ventura can see that fatigue has set in for the Sox, but there’s a lot of that going around the league.
‘‘They’re tired. The season is long, but they’re not tired to where they can’t play,’’ he said. ‘‘They’re focused and ready to play. Everybody in the big leagues is tired to an extent. This is fun. And you’re at the end of the season with a chance to make the playoffs.’’
Few are playing at 100 percent. Adding to his array of aches, Kevin Youkilis lost a fingernail in Tuesday’s game.
No regrets
Gordon Beckham said he didn’t consider taking the first pitch when he grounded into a fielder’s choice to end Tuesday’s 4-3 loss after Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez walked two batters to start the inning.
Ventura defended Beckham’s aggressive approach. When asked if Sox hitters need to extend at-bats, Ventura said, ‘‘We need to extend innings. We’ve scored just with home runs instead of getting the hit to get another guy at the plate. That would be better than just extending an at-bat.’’
