Peavy Blanks Division Leading Indians

Last season Jake Peavy suffered an injury that has never before been seen in the history of the MLB. Ill spare the medical mumbo jumbo, basically a muscle in his arm was completely separated from the bone. I've always respected Jake's tremendous talent, while at the same time being skeptical about him as a member of our Sox (because of his initial hesitation he displayed to come to Chicago). But after what he did last night, Jake, you're A OK in my book.

The red hot Indians came into Chicago for a 2 game series. In my opinion, the biggest series this club has faced all season (so far) for a couple reasons. First of all and most obvious of all, its a divisional game, not only that, its the first place team (don't get me wrong, I don't think the Indians will win this division, nor do I read to far into divisional leaders in mid-may). But in terms of momentum, this 2 gamer is a big one. The Sox have been playing much better lately and are turning things around, as Jake said in his post game interview with knock-out reporter Sarah Kustock "We have to beat the teams in front of us to become the team we want to be." Winning both games would not only bring the Indians that much closer to reality, but would also propel our Sox in the right direction (hopefully). I am looking at this series as not only 2 games closer to .500 and the top of the division, but a major confidence booster for this team. Thats what makes it so big, the mental impact it can have on our guys.

Quick game summary: The Sox put one on the board in the first with a sac fly from Dunn.

That was it for the offense, as the main story here was Peavy and the defense behind him. The defensive effort was capped off by a great sliding catch on the warning track by Brent Lillibridge (who by the way has really earned his spot on this roster, I love the way he has been playing when he gets his chances). No errors for the defense as Jake allowed just 3 lonely hits over 9 innings. As Hawk calls him "The Jakemiester" through one whale of a ball game (if I can steal an Ed Farmer phrase). Peavy throws the complete game, 3 hit, shutout..... who would have guessed it?  In just his 2nd start back. The man was touching 94 mph on the gun in the 9th...Wow. Thats really all you can say. Jake Peavy, this buds for you.

This was the type of game, that honestly, can swing an entire season, one of those games you look back on and say, "yup thats really when it turned around for us." You get your starter throwing an absolute gem, and you hold onto win a 1-0 game. Thats a dogfight right there. Thats huge for the mental makeup of a team.

This is that turnaround I have been talking about for the last month. This club has too much talent in every department to keep losing like they were. We've won 3 of our last 4 series (the one we didn't win was a 2 game split against the Rangers). The game tomorrow is huge for this club. Because without tomorrow, today's game means nothing (in terms of standings and record). We just need to start bunching up wins to get back to .500. Thats the bench mark, .500. We get back there, then we can start really looking at the divisional race. I still think this team will be back at .500 by early to mid June.

Im going to close tonight's post with a little food for thought:
With a 6 man rotation, will our starters be going deeper into games than they would have, had they not had that extra day off? Think about it....

I will be in attendance once again tomorrow night (3rd game in 4 days). Again I will do whatever I can to bring home what would be a HUGE win for this club. First pitch 7:10, Hawk and Stoney will have the call for you over on WCIU with Gavin Floyd on the bump. Go Sox.

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