WASHINGTON — Jake Peavy mixed
speeds, kept Washington hitters guessing and continued an impressive
roll by Chicago White Sox starting pitchers.
Peavy pitched a three-hitter for his
fourth career shutout and the White Sox beat the Nationals 1-0 on
Saturday for their season-high fifth straight victory.
"I start every game with the intention
of finishing it," Peavy said. "Does that happen very often? Absolutely
not. I did what I set out to do today."
Peavy's effort extended a dominant
stretch by the White Sox rotation, which is 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA in its
last 11 starts.
"Pitching is contagious," Peavy said.
"When you watch one guy go out there and do well, you want to follow it
up."
Peavy (6-5), whose scheduled start
Thursday was pushed back two days because of an achy right shoulder,
walked two and struck out seven as the White Sox moved within a game of
.500 (33-34) for the first time since April 14, when they were 4-5.
"Coming into the game we didn't know
what we were going to get because (Peavy) was having (shoulder)
problems," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had three hits. "As the
game went on, he got better. He got better and better."
The right-hander, who is 6-1 in his
last seven starts against NL clubs, worked out of a two-on, none-out jam
in the first and retired 20 Nationals in a row after Roger Bernadina's
second-inning single. His previous shutout was Aug. 23, 2005, a 2-0 win
for San Diego over Houston.
Carlos Quentin's RBI single in the
fourth sent the Nationals to their season-worst sixth consecutive
defeat. Chicago has won nine of 10 overall.
"We scratched out just enough
offensively to make it happen," Peavy said.
Nyjer Morgan drew a leadoff walk in
the Washington ninth and moved to second on Cristian Guzman's sacrifice
bunt. Peavy then struck out Ryan Zimmerman looking and intentionally
walked Adam Dunn before getting Josh Willingham on a popup to second.
Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen made a
visit to the mound before Peavy faced Dunn in the ninth with the tying
run at second, but it lasted only seconds. Dunn was 5 for 28 with two
homers against the right-hander.
"I don't like to walk the winning run
because the baseball gods get you. (Peavy) made a good pitch to the
next hitter," Guillen said.
Washington has scored once in 20
innings over two games against Chicago, a trend Zimmerman said has to be
reversed.
"Depending on who you're facing,
you've got to step your game up and come through with some hits and
support our pitchers. They've been throwing the ball well," Zimmerman
said. "It's not good to waste performances like that and we need to work
a little bit harder and come through in the clutch a little bit more."
Washington starter J.D. Martin
scattered eight hits over six innings but remained winless in seven
starts since his last victory on Sept. 18, 2009. Martin (0-3) walked
none and struck out a career-best six.
"I know what the score is. I know
that I need to just keep us in the game," Martin said. "I know (Peavy)
is throwing a great game. With a guy like that, it's going to be hard to
score runs."
Still, Nationals manager Jim
Riggleman isn't pondering any lineup changes.
"I've just got to believe in our guys
that we're going to get some pitches, start driving them and hopefully
have some men on base when we start doing it," he said.
Chicago improved to 9-2 in
interleague play this season, while the Nationals fell to 3-8.
Omar Vizquel led off the fourth with a
bloop single to center. He went to second on Mark Kotsay's groundout
and scored when Quentin laced a two-out single to left.
After making a pitching change in the
eighth, Riggleman was ejected by plate umpire Sam Holbrook for arguing
balls and strikes.
NOTES: Zimmerman struck out a
season-high four times on a day when the Nationals distributed 15,000
bobblehead likenesses of him. … Vizquel played his 99th straight
errorless game. He hasn't made an error since Sept. 14, 2008. Vizquel is
not scheduled to play on Sunday when Guillen is expected to give Dayan
Viciedo, who was recalled Friday from Triple-A Charlotte, his first
major league start. … The White Sox are the only team in the majors
with a winning record (17-16) on the road, but a losing record at home
(15-18). … Chicago has not homered in seven games, its longest skid
since April 17-25, 1993, an eight-game drought.