It is now Jake Peavy's turn to try and pull the Chicago White Sox out of their funk, as he takes the hill Tuesday in the middle test of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners.
The White Sox have lost seven in a row overall and eight straight on the road, and hope Peavy can bounce back from a rough outing his previous time out. Peavy didn't last long in Thursday's 8-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and allowed six runs and eight hits in a season-low four innings.
Peavy, who had won five of his previous six decisions, fell to 6-3 in 10 starts to go along with a 3.62 earned run average. The right-hander also dropped to 3-3 in six road starts, but has fared well in nine career starts against the Mariners, going 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA.
John Danks had trouble with Seattle in Monday's series-opening 4-2 loss and was reached for four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in six innings. White Sox manager Robin Ventura was still pleased with Danks' effort.
"As far as seeing him pitch in spring training, this is the best he's looked as far as command and just coming out of his hand," Ventura said. "It was a good night for him as far as pitching. He had a couple that got him, but other than that I liked the way he was throwing."
Adam Dunn and Jeff Keppinger each drove in a run for Chicago, which is 0-6 on an eight-game road trip and is riding the longest slide since a seven-game drought from Sept. 9-17, 2011. The White Sox have scored three runs or less in the last seven games.
Seattle opened a 10-game homestand with last night's victory over Chicago and won for the third time in five tries.
Mariners starting pitcher Joe Saunders helped his club halt a two-game slide by tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball and scattered five hits, while Yoervis Medina tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Tom Wilhelmsen worked around a run in the ninth for his 13th save.
Raul Ibanez highlighted a three-run third inning with a two-run homer off of Danks and Endy Chavez recorded two hits for the Mariners.
"He threw everything except the curveball," Ibanez said of his at-bat. "He made some tough pitches. I was pretty much just battling and he was fighting. It was one of those fun battles. That's what the game is all about."
The Mariners are counting on Felix Hernandez to pitch them to a series when he takes the mound Tuesday. After giving up 11 runs in two starts, Hernandez got back to his dominant form in Thursday's 7-1 win at San Diego, where he delivered eight innings of one-run ball and yielded just three hits. The righty, who has won five of his last seven decisions, pushed his 2013 mark to 6-4 in 12 starts to go along with a 2.38 ERA.
Hernandez lost to the White Sox back on April 6 at U.S. Cellular Field and is just 3-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 13 career starts against them.
Despite Monday's loss, Chicago has dominated the head-to-head series against Seattle of late with a 35-12 mark in this matchup since 2008. The White Sox saw their eight-game winning streak in the Emerald City come to an end.
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